Shropshire man runs New York Marathon for RJAH

Kevin, who now lives and works in Barbados as a Chartered Surveyor, decided to raise money for the Oswestry-based hospital after his mum’s partner Mike Wason was treated there for nerve damage to his spine.

Kevin, originally from Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury, has been training in 29C heat and 66% humidity for the 42km run in New York. This will also be his third consecutive NY Marathon, but the first he has run representing RJAH.

“I just had to do something to recognise how well the hospital cared for Mike” said Kevin. “He lost all the feeling in his limbs after a fall and RJAH nurtured him back to health – to the point where he can walk again.

“I’ve always enjoyed running, and to be able to do it for a worthy cause like this just makes it even better. Training here in Barbados has been a bit gruelling with the heat. We’ve had to run in the middle of the night to be cool enough, even then it can be in the high 20Cs! New York should be pleasantly cool so it should be good.”

“The whole family is travelling out to New York this year to see me run. My sister Jill, mum Sue and her partner Mike are all flying from the UK. I can’t wait!”

Chairman of RJAH Foundation Trust and its registered charity, Frank Collins cannot praise Kevin enough for choosing to support the hospital even though he lives on the other side of the world. He said: “It’s a testament to the Trust and the amazing care our staff give that encourages support like this.

“It means a lot that the hospital has people like Kevin raising money that we can put back into the care that his family has experienced. I hope he does well on the day and can’t thank him enough for representing us.”

Kevin flies to New York on Thursday November 3rd to take part in the race on Sunday November 6th, if you want to support him go to https://www.justgiving.com/rjah