Mum's marathon effort for hospice

Rona Pembertons charitable return for the childrens hospice was the biggest individual effort at the 13-mile May race.

Her son, Sam, suffered from rare genetic condition I-cell and died aged just two, having spent many happy hours at the North Anston centre.

Rona (38) said: "Sam was a happy, smiling baby despite his condition, which meant that he retained a lot of used cells the rest of us get rid of continually.

"These cluttered his body, affecting all his major organs and his ability to breathe and eat and he needed constant medical supervision.

"Sam was one of the first children to stay at Bluebell Wood, where he got the care he needed, and we got support as a family.

"Our daughter Freya was able to have fun, play with the toys and get some of the attention she had missed out on, while we could spend some quality time together as a family."

Rona said that although Sams life was cut so short, the family held many beautiful memories of his time at Bluebell Wood.

Her idea to run the race came just weeks after his death last December. She said training was a complete shock after being housebound caring for Sam for two years.

Rona, from Sheffield, said: "When I began training I struggled to run one mile and I was sure I had taken on too much.

"But every step I ran was in memory of my strong and beautiful boy. And knowing that I could give something back to Bluebell Wood was so important for all my family.

"Without their support and expertise our lives would have been so much harder. These thoughts kept me going.

"I was amazed I managed to run the whole 13 miles without stopping. The support on the way round was wonderful and it was a fantastic experience."

To run next years half marathon for the hospice, see www.bluebellwood.org/running.