A LOVING father is going the extra mile for charity after celebrating the strong start to life his son was able to salvage after being born nine weeks premature.
Martin Mackay will compete in the gruelling Amsterdam Marathon in October for Bliss, a UK charity for premature and sick babies which helps the families of little ones born too soon, too small or to sick.
Baby Lewis surprised the Mackay’s by arriving before mum Lindsay had even gone on maternity leave.
He was delivered at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on October 14, two months to the day before his due date, and was later transferred to Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital to be closer to the family home in Woodrow.
But the travelling wasn’t over for little Lewis – following the closure of the maternity unit at the Alex on November 5, he was transferred back to Worcester which saw Martin completing a lengthy two-hour round trip from his workplace to the hospital each evening.
Martin said: “The care and love Lewis received from neonatal staff at both sites was so inspiring to me as it gave Lewis the strong start to life he should have had if he arrived on time.”
And it was this inspiration and gratitude that led to Martin signing up for the marathon.
Although he practises Jiu-Jitsu, Martin admits the most physical exercise he does regularly is getting out of bed in the morning.
“I wanted to do something that was worthwhile and wouldn’t come easily to me,” he added. “I could have done a sky dive or something like that but although it would be very scary it would be quite easy.
“With the marathon I have to train for it and push myself. I feel passionate about giving something back.”
Visit https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Mackay2/?newPage=True to lend Martin your support.
