Loving Dad takes on Virgin Money London Marathon

Sean Mason from St Alban’s, Hertfordshire is taking part in the Virgin Money London Marathon this April in the hope of raising £2,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity that supported his family when his son was seriously ill in hospital.

Elias Mason was born on 12 March 2013. Straightaway Sean and his wife, Claire noticed that he wasn’t feeding as well as he should be; he was repeatedly vomiting after each feed and after further tests, it was found that his bowel was blocked. At just 3 days old he was rushed to The Rosie Hospital in Cambridge for specialist treatment and was admitted into neo-natal intensive care. It was during this time that he had an ileostomy operation resulting in a stoma.

Elias spent just over three weeks in The Rosie and while he was there, Sean and Claire were able to stay close by in Chestnut House, a ‘Home from Home’ provided by The Sick Children’s Trust located within the hospital.

A few months after returning home, Elias was diagnosed with total colonic Hirschprung’s disease, a rare condition of the bowel that affects just 1 in every 500,000 children. Because of the severity of his condition he had to have major, life-saving surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and Sean and Claire were again able to stay with The Sick Children’s Trust, this time in Acorn House, a second ‘Home from Home’ based within the hospital grounds.

Sean, 38 said “We are so grateful to The Sick Children’s Trust for enabling us to stay so close by to Elias. His condition was so unstable and being able to be just a lift ride away night and day was amazing. We even had a direct phone line to his ward in our bedroom which was so reassuring. I hope that by running the London Marathon I will be able to pay back some of our gratitude to the charity by helping to support other families who have poorly children in hospital.

“I enjoy running in my spare time but have only ever completed half marathons in the past so this will definitely be a tough challenge for me. I have always been in awe of those who run the marathon and I hope that I will be able to soon say that I too have completed such an achievement.”

Sean has been busy fundraising and training for the London Marathon and has already raised a fantastic £2,128.50.

Alan Booth, House Manager of Chestnut House says “We are delighted to hear that Elias is home and has recovered well and it is wonderful that Sean has decided to run the Virgin Money London Marathon this year in aid of The Sick Children’s Trust. It is not an easy feat and we really appreciate all of the time he has spent on his fundraising and training.

“It costs £28 to accommodate a family for one night in our ‘Home from Home’ accommodation so the money Sean has raised will help us to support an incredible amount of families who’s worlds are turned upside down when their child is taken seriously ill. We will be there to cheer Sean on and will be waiting for him at the finish line.”

The Sick Children’s Trust provides free, high quality ‘Home from Home’ accommodation as well as emotional and practical support for families who have seriously ill children in hospital. The charity has nine houses across the UK where families can stay free of charge, just minutes from their child’s side.

If you would like to sponsor Sean and support The Sick Children’s Trust please visit his just giving page:http://www.justgiving.com/Seanster