Amjid’s marathon in honour of children born with life-limiting condition
A Black Country father is set to take on his biggest challenge for a charity close to his heart.
Amjid Mehmood from Dudley will be taking on 26.2 miles of the streets of the capital as he runs the London Marathon in October.
Mr Mehmood will be taking on the lung-bursting challenge to help raise funds for Acorns Children's Hospice, a charity which provides specialist palliative care for life-limited and life-threatened babies, children and young people and support for their families.
The 43-year-old Wolverhampton Council worker has a close link to the charity, with both his children Subhan and Zara having been treated by Acorns.
Subhan died in November 2016 at the age of seven after being born with Joubert’s syndrome, a rare life-threatening condition which causes varying degrees of physical, mental and sometimes visual impairments.
Nine-year-old Zara has the same condition and continues to be supported by Acorns.
Mr Mehmood has completed fundraising runs before, but said this challenge was worth going through the pain barrier for.
He said: "They have done so much for my children, looking after Subhan before he died in November 2016, and Zara to this day, so this has been a way for me to give back to such a good cause.
"I felt that it was good to do something in the name of my son and his legacy and for my daughter, so to take on this challenge will be a huge one as I've never gone beyond the half-marathon distance before."
Mr Mehmood has previously raised more than £5,000 for Acorns and has set a target of £7,000 for the marathon, for which he said training was difficult, but he was pushing through it.
He said: "Training is quite difficult as it's taking a lot of effort, time and commitment to get it done, but I am focussed on it and I am doing what I can to get it done.
"What I would say to people is that this is an important charity and if it wasn't around, children who are life-limited wouldn't have a place to go.
"I am prepared to do this to help it as it survives on donations and the goodwill of the public to ensure it can continue to provide a service for children and their families in the region."
Isabel Goodwin from the fundraising team at Acorns, said: “We’re so grateful to Amjid for taking part in this world famous marathon for Acorns and for putting himself through such a gruelling challenge to help raise the vital funds Acorns needs to continue.
"With it being the first ‘in-person’ London Marathon since the pandemic, this event has such a special significance and the atmosphere will I’m sure be electric.
"A huge thank you to Amjid and all the other participants running for Acorns and we wish them all the very best for next Sunday."
To make a donation click here.
