Bourne father takes on London Marathon to help support 'amazing' children’s charity

A dad from Bourne is running the London Marathon this weekend to help raise funds for a charity, which supported his family when their daughter needed surgery.

Steve Knight, 48, will be pounding the streets of the nation’s capital on October 2 to show his gratitude for The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity which offers families with a seriously ill child in hospital a comfortable place to stay.

The charity, which this year is celebrating 40 years of keeping families together, enabled Mr Knight to stay close to his daughter, Hannah, as she underwent surgery to correct her curved spine.

He said: “The Sick Children’s Trust means so much to us, so being able to take part [in the marathon] while giving back to a charity which had such a big impact on our lives makes it even more special.”

Hannah first started complaining of back pain when she was 11.

At the same time, Steve and his wife Lucy noticed that one of her shoulder blades was sticking out more than the other.

Concerned, they arranged to see a specialist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where Hannah was diagnosed with scoliosis.

Over the following two years, Hannah’s condition deteriorated to the point that her curved spine started affecting her lung function.

With the curve now compressing one of her lungs while also pulling on the other, she found it increasingly hard to breathe.

Doctors recommended Hannah undergo a lengthy surgery when she was 13.

The aim was to fix brackets to her individual vertebrae so that metal rods could be attached and used to straighten – and hopefully hold – her spine in place.

It was, Steve remembered, a very difficult time: “Hannah was in surgery for a long time, but the doctors only got three quarters of the way through the procedure before they had to stop”, he explained.

“Hannah’s heart and lungs couldn’t cope with the extended surgery.

“We expected her to be on the paediatric intensive care unit for a couple of days, but we were actually at Addenbrooke’s Hospital for 12 days in total while we waited for Hannah’s second surgery, and during her recovery.”

A ‘really worrying time’

With their home in Thurlby a 90-minute drive away, Steve and Lucy were faced with long car journeys to remain by their daughter’s side.

Happily, hospital staff stepped in and told them about The Sick Children’s Trust and Acorn House, a free ‘home-from-home’ which was only minutes away from Hannah’s hospital bedside.

Steve spoke of his relief: “Acorn House was amazing and provided everything we needed during what was a really worrying time for us. We had a comfortable place where we could rest, cook proper meals and generally look after ourselves while always being close to Hannah’s side. Lucy and I split our time between our home and Acorn House so we could look after our son, Jared, while also being there for Hannah.”

The Sick Children’s Trust has supported more than 73,000 families since it launched in 1982. The charity lets families stay in any of its ten ‘Homes from Home’ completely free of charge.

Community fundraising manager, Elisa Coppello-Dowd, said: “While it is completely free for a family to stay in our ‘Homes from Home’, it does cost the charity £40 to support a family for one night. That is why the generosity of our supporters and the efforts of fundraisers like Steve are so vital in making sure we can continue to be there supporting more families.

“We’ll be cheering him on every step of the way.”

Hannah, now 16, is a happy, healthy teenager.

“Since her recovery Hannah has been doing brilliantly”, said Steve. “She is back dancing and doing all [the] things she enjoys.”Anyone wishing to contribute to Steve’s fundraising can visit his Just Giving page.