Dad and Nanny team grit teeth to complete Seabank Marathon for children’s charity

A special dad and grandmother team completed Boston’s Seabank Marathon in 6 hours 29 minutes in aid of The Sick Children’s Trust and Macmillan, raising  almost £1,000.

Jonathan Cussons and his mother Debbie, who celebrated her 50^th birthday just after the race, completed the marathon course to support two charities close to their hearts.

Jonathan chose The Sick Children’s Trust as the charity supported him and his partner Kelly, when their baby daughter Madeleine-Rose was born prematurely at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, over 2 hours’ from their home in Skegness.

The family stayed free of charge in the charity’s Chestnut House, located just a lift ride away from the neo-natal intensive care unit where Madeline was being treated. They spent four days at the ‘Home from Home’ until Madeline was well-enough to be transferred to a hospital nearer to home, to continue her treatment.

Jonathan says: ‘We found out the race had been extended to nearly 30 miles due to uncontrollable circumstances, so this certainly was the challenge of a lifetime for my mum and me! I’m so pleased we made it round and raised such a fantastic sum for The Sick Children’s Trust and Macmillan.

“Madeleine-Rose is doing brilliantly now, coming on leaps and bounds, and we wanted to give something back to the charity which supported us when she was born so early.”

Helen Salmon, House Manager at Chestnut House, says: “I want to pass on my congratulations to Madeleine’s Dad and Nanny for completing such a successful challenge. It costs us £28 a night to provide a room for one family, free of charge, so the money they have raised will go directly towards helping other families with seriously ill babies in hospital. I can’t thank them enough and wish Madeline the very best as she continues to grow stronger.”