This spring Kathryn Edwards and her army of 44 family and friends from Flackwell Heath are taking on the OX5 RUN, in support of Oxford Children’s Hospital.

And they have a very special reason for wanting to show them their support.

In June 2022 Kathryn’s son Kaiden, aged seven, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. In the months prior to his diagnosis, Kaiden had bouts of dizziness, headaches, vomiting, double vision and headaches.

Initially, doctors thought he might be experiencing migraines, but Kathryn felt that something wasn’t right.

She explains: 'He was very up and down with his symptoms. One minute he was poorly and the next he was fine, but I knew deep down that something wasn’t right.

‘Eventually, Kaiden was referred for an MRI and two days later we received a call to say that he had a brain tumour and needed to go to the John Radcliffe Hospital straight away with the view that they would operate within a few days.’

Kaiden was admitted to Robin’s Ward at the Children’s Hospital and after a few days, he had his operation.

All of the tumour was removed in the surgery but unfortunately, the biopsy showed the tumour was malignant.

After Kaiden recovered from his surgery, Kathryn had to take him to the University College Hospital in London for him to have proton beam therapy. This is a kind of radiotherapy that uses high-energy protons that can be targeted at a tumour, reducing the damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs.

'He stayed in for 6 weeks and had the treatment every day under anaesthetic, which was quite draining for him.'

After a six-week break, Kaiden was back at the John Radcliffe on Kamran’s Ward in December where he started eight cycles of chemotherapy – which will continue until August this year.

Kathryn goes on to say: 'We are just a normal family and being in the hospital environment just makes you realise what amazing work the doctors and nurses do – it blows you away.

'We decided that we wanted to do something for the children’s hospital who have looked after Kaiden so well and the run seemed like a great opportunity for our loved ones to be able to show their support.

'We asked a few friends and family to join our team and it seems to have snowballed reaching 44 people so far -we’ve called the team Kaiden’s Army!

'I think the biggest team in past OX5 runs has been 53, and our aim is to beat that and get the biggest team!'

Speaking on behalf of Oxford Hospitals Charity, Sarah Vaccari said: 'We got to meet Kaiden when we were visiting the children’s hospital in the run-up to Christmas.

'He is such a lovely little boy and it is so wonderful to see so many of his family and friends out there showing their love and support for him.

'It means so much when families – amid such a difficult time, decide to support the charity, especially at our annual fun run at Blenheim Palace. It is such an important event  as it brings people together, many with first-hand experience of the children’s hospital, to raise funds that allow us to transform the hospital environment for children like Kaiden.'

If you would like to take part in the OX5 RUN,  either by yourself or in a team like Kathryn, please visit www.hospitalcharity.co.uk/ox5run to find out more

You can run, walk or jog the five-mile route at Blenheim Palace which takes place on Sunday 26 March.