WHEN Georgina Catt was just two months old doctors told her parents that she had a rare liver disease that needed immediate treatment.

Within a day of being diagnosed with biliary atresia she underwent a pioneering operation and has not looked back since.

Now at the age of 28 she has decided to run this year’s Virgin London Marathon in aid of the The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation.

The former Suffolk College student - whose parents live in Wickham Market - is extremely excited about the challenge and is hoping to raise as much money as possible.

“It is a cause very close to my heart and I’ve done work for them in the past, giving speeches to families living with liver disease and telling my story,” she said. “When I had the operation it was a very new procedure. Children before then died, I’m actually one of the oldest survivors.

“Unfortunately biliary atresia, like many childhood liver diseases, is incurable and we do not know what causes it. I live with the disease and am monitored very closely by specialists at Kings College Hospital.

“I am very lucky in that I take no medication and live a normal life. There is always a possibility of a liver transplant in the future, however, through the efforts of my specialists, I hope this may not need to be done.”

Miss Catt, who was born in the Netherlands, now lives in London but returns to Suffolk at the weekends as part of her gruelling training regime - which has included runs from Wickham Market to Woodbridge and back and along Aldeburgh beach.

It is the first time she has ever run a marathon but despite her condition - which if untreated can cause liver failure - she has always maintained an active lifestyle.

“So far the training is going very well - although there never seems to be enough hours in the day to fit everything in. My lifestyle is not that different from my contemporaries. However, I do not drink alcohol and I do not take aspirin.

“I have kept active physically and I am grateful to everyone who has helped me to live with the condition.”

Anyone who would like to sponsor Miss Catt can visit her fundraising page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GeorginaCatt.