Georgina Farebrother was told she might never walk or talk again after suffering a hypothermic cardiac arrest last year.
What began as a routine cold‑water swim off the Devon coast turned into an emergency rescue. She was airlifted to hospital after being discovered buried beneath the shingle.
“I don’t remember any of it,” she says. “My daughter filed a missing person’s report at 9pm… and around 11pm one of the rescue team tripped over what she thought was driftwood. It was my arm, frozen and sticking up through the shingle.”
Against medical expectation, she survived the first 72 hours. But the prognosis remained bleak: severe brain damage and long‑term disability.
“I couldn’t speak. I had to relearn everything,” she says. “I had hypoxia from the lack of oxygen to my brain. My short‑term memory lasts about three weeks at a time. I also have a weak heart.”
Due to her medical condition, Georgina is supported by a dedicated medical team. She began training gradually in September while wearing a heart monitor, and continues to have weekly blood tests.
“Doctors told me, 'You can’t physically do it'. That made me even more determined. I needed to prove to myself, and to everyone, that I can and I will run the London Marathon.”
Running has become therapeutic, especially since losing her partner Gavin to cancer in 2024 just five weeks after diagnosis. “I feel like I’m doing this for both of us,” she says.
For her, the TCS London Marathon is symbolic.
“I see the distance as the distance of my life. I’ve come a long way. I’ve spent years fighting - for safety, for housing, for my kids, for my life. I’ll never see myself as a victim. This marathon is the journey of everything I’ve survived.”
“I feel like the finish line will be the start of a new life,” she says. “And a reminder that life after trauma is possible.”
Above everything, she wants her children, Aaron and Ali, to see her on the course.
“They watched me fight for my life. They never left my side in the ICU. For them to see me run the London Marathon… I think that will be the most emotional part of all.”
She is running for the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. A cause that resonates deeply because of her own lived experience.
“I married my first husband when I was 18. He had a gambling addiction. I had my son at 19 and my daughter at 21. We lived years in insecurity - constantly in and out of council offices, temporary accommodation, begging for a night in a bed and breakfast. We were always one crisis away from losing our home.”
She left the abusive marriage and went to a refuge with her young children, and spent years navigating a housing system she now supports professionally as a Communities and Housing Manager for Somerset Council.
“It took until I was 47 to finally get a place of my own - a shared‑ownership home. I just sat on the stairs and cried when I got the keys.”
She’s seen the system from every angle: as a young mother in crisis, as a survivor of abuse, and now as someone who helps others through it.
“That’s why Shelter means so much. I want the money to go towards more real‑life support - more empathetic people, not just systems. People who understand.”
So far, she’s raised nearly £2,000 through raffles, bake sales, and the generous support of her family.
Her advice to others is to get creative with fundraising. Family members, including her brother, pledged “£10 a mile,” and when you’re running a marathon, those miles add up quickly!
She also encourages fundraisers to check whether their employer offers match funding. Her daughter’s workplace was able to double the proceeds from a bake sale. Many employers will match the amount raised or top up donations up to an agreed limit, which can significantly boost your fundraising total.
