2013 will be the first time Richard Weymes steps up to run his first London Marathon.
Richard began running for the charity Unique, after his son, Haydn, was born in October 2003 with a rare chromosome disorder known as 18q deletion. The disorder means that a major part of his genetic data is missing from each of the billions of cells within his body.
Haydn was born with two holes in his heart and he was unable to breathe initially without oxygen pumped into his incubator. Sadly he is unable to walk, talk or take most foods orally and he is fed special milk through a gastric tube in his tummy via an electronic feeding machine. He requires numerous medicines at various times of the day.
We caught up with Richard to understand what motivates him to run:
“When Haydn was born we knew there was something seriously wrong and those first few days were crucial. He is a real battler and despite everything I could not wish for a better son.
“Unique have been so helpful to us as a family and this is why I wanted to raise funds and awareness for them in my first Virgin London Marathon.
“I have set up a Virgin Money Giving page so that people can donate and help me raise my target of £2,000.
“Every single step I run I will be thinking of Haydn and that will drive me on. He is a special little boy and I can’t wait to see him when I cross that finishing line. People say the London marathon is a tough run but when you have been through what Haydn has been through the marathon will be a piece of cake in comparison.”
