Lily

Steven Waters

....does not have a family member with Rett Syndrome but was inspired to run for us by Lotta and her siblings.

Steven said “As a keen runner and the Assistant Headteacher of a primary school, I’m always looking for ways to engage children in running and charitable acts.

This year I gave the children the opportunity to nominate a charity and a costume for my London Marathon effort (with the caveat that the charity must be relevant to our community and the costume must be awesome).

Reverse Rett was suggested as two of our children have a fantastic sister with Rett Syndrome. In their own words, they admire her for her resilience and kindness and feel comfortable and peaceful around their sister

Their acknowledgement that Reverse Rett is doing so much to help other children like their sister was humbling, truly a good cause

For me, Reverse Rett is an inspirational charity as it is run by parents of those with Rett Syndrome who put all donations to work, managing to achieve so much together I’m proud to run for all children with Rett Syndrome

As for the costume… after many suggestions it finally came down to a huge inflatable pterodactyl… which is far more challenging a costume than I was hoping for! However, a deal is a deal, so a dinosaur I shall be So, if you see a pterodactyl haunting the coasts of Devon, never fear: it’s only a teacher slightly questioning his life choices. Who knows, maybe we’ll set a World Record along the way."

It’s awesome to have our very first Reverse Rett Dinosaur competing in the London Marathon.

We have never been able to secure guaranteed charity places for the London Marathon and rely on supporters to be successful in the ballot then choose Reverse Rett as their charity, We are truly grateful that James and Steven have done just that.

Keep an eye out for them on the BBC on Sunday April 23rd. You won’t be able to miss Mr Waters!