"I’m not worried about losing my toenails, all I want to do is raise £2,000 for the charity that helped our family."

An Essex dad is pounding the pavement in preparation for the Virgin Money London Marathon later this year to raise £2,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust the charity which kept him by his daughter’s hospital bedside.

Scott Taylor, 36, from Rayleigh, was given a place to stay, free of charge, by The Sick Children’s Trust when his daughter, Tilly, was rushed to the Royal London Children’s Hospital for life saving treatment.

Tilly was born eight weeks prematurely in 2016 and within a few hours had a suspected life-threatening bowel condition, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which required urgent treatment. Tilly spent four weeks in the London hospital until she was well enough to be discharged to Southend University Hospital. Scott and his partner, Danielle, were never separated from their daughter during this time because they were given a place to stay at Stevenson House, ‘Home from Home’ accommodation run by The Sick Children’s Trust. Scott is thanking the charity for its support by taking on the iconic 26.2 mile race around the capital. He said:

“I’m not a natural runner, in fact I have the flexibility of a fridge. As I’m facing the hills on my 17 mile training runs, I feel like I’m jumping in at the deep end!

“I was all over the place when I arrived at the Royal London Children’s Hospital, everything had happened so suddenly, but soon someone from The Sick Children’s Trust was there telling me about Stevenson House. It was a warm and comfortable place to stay, just across the road. We were so close that we could see the hospital from our bedroom window. Having to travel would’ve been a huge burden. The Sick Children’s Trust was like a guardian angel arriving out of nowhere.

“There were times it was touch and go, so it was vital that we were within walking distance of Tilly which was possible because of The Sick Children’s Trust. We couldn’t be more grateful to the charity for its support and want to raise what we can to help other families with seriously ill children in hospital stay together. I’m not worried about losing my toenails, all I want to do is raise £2,000 for the charity that helped our family.

“Thankfully, Tilly pulled through and is doing really well. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that we could only feed her half a millilitre of milk. Now she’ll happily munch through bags of quavers!”

The Sick Children’s Trust is the charity that gives families with a seriously ill child in hospital a comfortable place to stay and a friendly ear to listen in one of its ten ‘Homes from Home’. It cost the charity £30 to support a family for one night. Samantha Lloyd, Events Manager at The Sick Children’s Trust, added:

“Having a seriously ill child in hospital can be emotionally and physically exhausting and by giving a family a place to stay just minutes from their child’s bedside gives them one less thing to worry about.

“We’re so grateful to Scott for choosing to run the London marathon for us, the money he raises will go to supporting another family with a sick child in hospital with a place to stay in one of our ‘Homes from Home’. We look forward to joining Scott’s family – Danielle, Tilly, Archie and Louis – on the day to cheer him around the course!”

To support Scott, visit his JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/scott-taylor61

For further information about The Sick Children’s Trust, please visit sickchildrenstrust.org