Six-year-old runs marathon for the NHS dressed as his favourite super-heroes including a doctor, fireman and policeman
A six-year-old has completed a full marathon for the NHS dressed as his favourite super-heroes, which include a doctor, fireman and policeman.
Meet super fundraiser Ollie Hall.
After being taught about the coronavirus by his parents, Chris, 37, and Liz, 33, the kind-hearted youngster decided he wanted to do something to help the doctors, nurses and other NHS staff who were helping to save lives of those suffering from COVID-19.
Ollie and his family decided he should run a 26.2 miles, the equivalent of a marathon, over the course of a month.
But to add to the challenge Ollie decided to complete the lengthy run in fancy dress.
Read more: How to help children get used to wearing a face mask or covering
As well as his favourite super-heroes, Superman, The Flash and Willy Wonka, the primary school pupil insisted on also dressing up as the real life heroes working in emergency services, running the final leg as a doctor.
“It all started because he wanted to do something nice for his teachers and friends who were still in school,” dad Chris explains.
“As I was going out to do the shopping he gave me some of his pocket money and I came back with some cakes that he could give them.
“I think he got quite a buzz off it and he wanted to do more, so we came up with the idea of doing a run.
“He wanted to make people laugh and smile, and in his words, 'help the doctors and nurses and the poorly people'.”
Read more: Mum praised for relatable post about losing yourself in motherhood
The determined youngster completed a mile a day over a 30 day period, taking Sundays off to allow him to recover, and has so far raised more than £3,000 for the NHS with donations still coming in.
“I felt so sorry for all the poorly people I saw on the news,” Ollie, from Plymouth, Devon, says.
“I like running around so thought I could run in fancy dress to make people smile and hopefully raise some money to help look after the doctors, nurses and poorly people that are in hospital.”
Having set himself an initial target of £50, Ollie quickly smashed that amount and so far has raised an impressive £3,087.
“He finished the last mile on the day of his sixth birthday,” Chris says.
“He ran six days a week and covered a marathon distance, he’s buzzing - he wants to do more.
"He did his first one in normal clothes because we hadn’t thought about it [fancy dress] but then he wanted to get dressed up.
"We borrowed some outfits and bought some, he was dressed as all sorts."
Read more: Dad invents world's first coronavirus pram to help prevent babies contracting COVID-19
Over the course of his runs, Ollie dressed as The Flash, a knight, a dragon, Superman, Iron Man, Where's Wally and Willy Wonka.
But it was important to Ollie to dress as real-life superheroes too, including members of the police force, the fire brigade, and NHS staff.
“He finished his last mile dressed as a doctor. It was his choice, he always chose what he wanted to wear,” Chris adds.
Ollie has been raising money for the NHS, specifically his local hospital, Derriford, and the Plymouth Hospitals Charity.
The charity picked up on Ollie's fundraising efforts and shared his Just Giving page online, prompting a flood of donations.
To donate visit https://bit.ly/2NoGzQK
Additional reporting SWNS.
