David’s on the run for Layla
Marathon man raises £1,090 for sick girl
A big- hearted Paisley runner raised more than £ 1,000 for a little girl battling a rare form of cancer.
David Wallace, 49, hit the road at the Edinburgh Half Marathon and collected £1,190 for three-year-old Renfrew girl Layla Greene.
Layla was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in March – an advanced form of cancer found in less than 100 children across the UK each year and has just undergone her eighth round of chemotherapy.
The community has rallied round in a bid to raise cash to support her through her treatment, and David was delighted to play his part.
He said: “It was a hot day in Edinburgh so it was hard going, but I managed to run it in an hour and 46 minutes so I was happy with the time.
“I managed to raise £1,190 for Layla so I was pleased with that. My cousin Karen McGuckin is friends with Layla’s mum so she suggested that I run for her.
“In the past few years I’ve run for the John Hartson Foundation, Marie Curie and Motor Neurone Disease and raised about £4,000.
“After I stopped playing football three years ago, I took up running just to keep fit, then I thought why not raise a bit of money for charity in the process?”
The quality control supervisor also took part in last weekend’s charity football match between Renfrew United and The Old Firm Legends to raise cash for Layla.
Legends Frank McAvennie, Marvin Andrews, Bobby Petta, Derek Ferguson, Rudi Vata, John McDonald and Dougie Bell all took part.
David said: “It was a really good day. All the legends were great with the kids. Big Marvin Andrews spent loads of time with them and Frank McAvennie was just Frank McAvennie.
“Layla was too ill to be there so he accepted the cheque from my half marathon run on her behalf.”