All for the love of Seth
£1,700 thank you run
A doting grandfather took on a gruelling race to say thank you for the care given to his ill grandson.
Phil Hazell, from Renfrew, ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in London and raised £1,693 for the British Heart Foundation.
The keen runner was spurred to take part after his young grandson Seth underwent vital surgery to correct a hole in his heart. The 11- month- old baby was born last November with a congenital heart defect where his heart hadn’t formed fully in the womb.
In September, little Seth underwent open- heart surgery to fix the defect and thankfully is recovering well at home with his mum Marissa.
The charity says 12 babies are diagnosed with congenital heart defects in the UK every day.
Phil explained: “Doctors detected Seth’s heart defect after he was born but were hopeful that it would fix itself. However, Seth was struggling to put on weight, so doctors made the decision to operate.
“It’s a relatively standard procedure for the surgeons but not for my family. It was an incredibly emotional time with our little chap going through open-heart surgery.
“I’ve heard people talk about holes in their hearts but never really with babies. You just don’t think something like that could happen to someone so small.
“The hospital gave us a British Heart Foundation leaflet to help explain the procedure and ever since then, we wanted to do something for the charity to help fund life-saving research that gives babies like Seth a fighting chance.”
The Royal Parks Half Marathon took place on October 14 in London and Phil ran it with Zoe Duerden, Seth’s godmother. Around 300 people took part to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and together they raised more than £125,000.
Despite being a keen runner, Phil, 60, admitted he struggled with the race after suffering an injury.
He said: “The run was tough. I have completed marathons all over Europe, but this was my first event in a while. Running is what I do to keep fit, but I have been struggling with a calf injury that hampered my training.
“But knowing first- hand the difference the British Heart Foundation’s research makes to babies like Seth helped power me to the finish line.”
Karen McDonnell, event organiser at the BHF, said: “It’s fantastic that Phil has taken huge strides to help beat heartbreak forever.
“By becoming a British Heart Foundation champion, he has helped to fund vital research that will end the devastation caused by heart and circulatory disease once and for all.
“Every step Phil took will help bring us closer to the day when families aren’t torn apart by conditions like diabetes, stroke, vascular dementia and coronary heart disease.
“With 71,700 people living with these conditions in the city of Glasgow alone, and around 1,600 losing their lives each year, we’d love to see even more people take on a run for the British Heart Foundation.”
To take part in a run for the BHF, visit www.bhf.org.uk/runs
It’s not too late to sponsor Phil. If you would like to do so go to www. justgiving.com/fundraising/philhazell2018
It was such an emotional time for us Phil Hazell