When local resident Scott Chandler bought his puppy Mabel in May 2018, little did he know it would result in a place in the Great South Run. Scott explains
“I used to walk Mabel around London Irish and regularly saw the Park Run taking place on Satur-day mornings. That inspired me to firstly walk quicker and then gradually start to jog parts of my daily walks. Eventually I got to the point of taking part in Park Run, minus Mabel of course!”
Bad luck for Scott though, when one of his busi-ness partners, Mark Coombes, entered him into the Great South Run for October 2020! The pandemic cancelled the run that year of course, but Scott is now preparing to attempt the 10 mile challenge on October 17th.
“ I had never thought of doing anything more than the Park Run to be honest but when Mark suggest-ed we do the run together, I had no option but to say yes, particularly considering the charity we are supporting and the story behind it”
“We are hoping to raise money for the Brompton Hospital in West London. It’s a place pretty close to my heart” says Scott.
“We lost our baby son, Samuel, in September 2002, whilst he was at the Brompton. Now our friends George and Paris Morris are there themselves with their son Dexter.”
This is Dexters story in the words of his mother:
“Dexter’s journey with the Royal Brompton began when he was just three weeks. He had already had surgery and he had now had an Ileostomy. Biopsy results and genetics testing showed him to have Cystic Fibrosis. This news was a shock and came with a heart breaking life expectancy that wouldn’t see him into adulthood. The Brompton foundation have support-ed the whole family since that day. Back in March, Dexter fell very ill and needed emergency surgery. On April 22nd we were told the unthinkable; Dexter had become unstable in surgery and wasn’t responding to medication to save him. We were told to invite our family to say their goodbyes and be beside us for support during his final hours. But he fought back and pulled through. The Brompton Foundation are a charity supporting children and their families who have been given a heart or lung diagnosis. This organisation ensured we could be close to Dexter at his weakest, whilst still being able to be with Darcie (his sister). They provided us with accommodation throughout, as well as lots of fun days out! Dexter will continue to visit the Brompton, but, after a long heart-breaking journey, he is actually home! His care continues. He requires all his nutrition and fluids intravenously, via a line close to his heart. But this little fighter is thriving! The charity has helped us be close at a time we felt so far apart, and helped us all still smile, even on our bad days!” If you can help Scott Chandler on his way, and raise some much needed money for this great charity please make your donation at justgiving.com and search for paris-morris
Go Scott!!!