I’ll be running for kids like Reims
5:52pm Saturday 3rd May 2008
MACCLESFIELD nurse Dennis Martin is going the extra mile to look after children at the Donna Louise Children's Hospice.
The 41-year-old father of three has signed up for this year's Treetops10k run on Sunday May 11 at Trentham Leisure, one of the hospice trust's major fundraising events of the year, to help children like seven-year-old Reims Norton.
The oldest of three children of Angela and Chris Norton, of Hamble Way, Macclesfield, Reims has severe learning difficulties, autism and drug-resistant, life-threatening epilepsy. Dennis has cared for Reims since he was a baby and has seen him regularly over the past year on his visits to the hospice.
At its Treetops house in Trentham, on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, the hospice trust provides respite and end-of-life care for children aged up to 19 from all over Staffordshire and South Cheshire who have life-threatening illnesses.
Angela paid tribute to the service provided, saying: "We've only been using the hospice for a year, but it's been a lifeline for the whole family."
Dennis, who has been running to keep fit for two years, trains four times a week and may be seen pounding the pavements around the outskirts of Macclesfield and running along the paths in Macclesfield Forest and on the Middlewood Way.
He said: "I am really looking forward to the Treetops 10k. I am glad of the opportunity to give a bit of extra support to the children in my care, especially the ones from Macclesfield. I would also like to remind parents of children with life-limiting illnesses that we are there for them, and to get in touch."
Anyone who would like to sponsor Dennis can donate on: www.justgiving.com/donnalouisetrust jean.ellis@commnews.co.uk