Jersey woman with Huntington's prepares for marathon

Ashley Delgado wants to inspire others with the disease

A Jersey woman with Huntington's Disease is training to run the London Marathon in a bid to raise awareness about the rare genetic condition.

Ashley Delgado, 34, will be running the marathon in April to raise funds for Huntington's Disease Association (HDA).

The condition gradually stops parts of the brain from working and is usually fatal after about 20 years, according to Brain Research UK.

There is no cure or treatment for the disease, according to the NHS.

Ms Delgado said she wanted to show others they could make the most of the time they had.

She said: "I understand how hard it will be but I just want people with Huntington's to know they can go on to achieve things like this.

Ms Delgado will be running the London Marathon in April

"Just make sure you've got friends and family there to help you and you will get there."

Huntington's Disease has a one in two chance of being passed on from parents to their children, according to HDA.

Ms Delgado inherited the condition from her dad who died 10 years ago when he was 51 years old.

She added: "I think he'd be really proud, especially with me doing it for Huntington's Disease Association.

"He wasn't looking good at all when he died.

"He used to be a really strong guy but when I saw him, he was really skinny, just no strength really left, which wasn't great."

Chief executive of HDA Cath Stanley said what Ms Delgado was doing was "truly inspirational"

Chief executive of HDA Cath Stanley said she was moved by Ms Delgado's decision to open up about her story.

She said: "It's truly inspirational.

"I mean, I think the resilience and the absolute kind of dogged determination of the people that we work with is the thing that inspires everybody who works for the organisation.

"What we try to do is support families like Ashley's family with the illness for the duration of their journey.

"So we have a team of specialist advisers who support people out in the community and do training and education for professionals.

"People have actually never heard of the illness, or certainly never looked after anybody with it."