Father honours son by doing London Marathon 2026 for his local hospital charity in Birmingham

The hospital charity is excited to have 14 runners this year taking part in the 2026 London Marathon all with deep rooted connections with the hospitals that served them.

One of our charity runners, Daniel Rusby, has completed 88 half marathons, 10 Marathons, and 2 ultra marathons since 2022 in his quest to raise £10,000 for Heartlands Hospital’s Neonatal Unit. Daniel will be running in memory of his son Marshall who was born prematurely at 600 grams with a large probability of not surviving his first 24hrs.

On the care his son and the family received at Heartlands Neonatal Unit, Daniel said, “Marshall should not have made it 24hrs but thanks to the love, care and support of some of the most amazing human beings I’ve ever had the privilege to meet, my son’s life was saved on multiple occasions. He had grown to 4lb and was breathing on his own in a cot looking to be discharged the following week. Unfortunately, he got an infection in his stomach and was unable to be moved for surgery. The infection took Marshall straight back to heaven within hours.”

Daniel stayed at the hospital for 4 months where staff became part of the family. He said, “I’m truly blessed to have had the support from the staff I did over those four months. I would have been lost without them.”

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