A mother is set to run 26 miles in a bid to help find a cure for her daughter who suffers from a rare illness.

Natalie Moss, 26, of Winters Way in Waltham Abbey, is set to run in the 2016 London Marathon in a bid to raise money for charity, Muscular Dystrophy UK.

The mother-of-two, whose daughter Sophie Saunders, 4, is one of only 300 children in the world known to suffer from Ullrich Muscular Dystrophy which causes the muscles to waste and joints to seize, hopes to raise £2,000 towards life-saving research.

Sufferers of the condition tend to survive into early adulthood.

Ms Moss said: "Sophie’s dad and I were sat in the waiting room and I picked up a Muscular Dystrophy leaflet.

"All of the children looked unwell and I said to Dean, ‘she hasn’t got that, that’s not Sophie’ and he said ‘no, she hasn’t’.

“When we were called in and they told us, I was so shocked.

“They said it was a one in a million chance that two carriers of the gene would meet and have children, but we did.

"I am training three times a week at the moment running between three and seven miles just to get my fitness up.

"But I will be following a 17 week training plan starting in January.

"I'm dreading it but at same time I'm excited to be part of such an atmosphere.

"There is no cure for this condition but there is hope.

"I told Sophie and she asked why I was running so I explained and she was so excited and happy when I said that I will be having a vest with her picture on the back.

"I will be running the longest 26.2 miles of my life to raise money to help with research into finding a cure for my little girl."

You can follow Natalie's progress or donate to her cause, here.