Dad to run marathon while pushing disabled son in wheelchair

WHEN Ricky Edwards took up jogging 18 months ago, he had no idea that it would inspire him to enter this year’s Brighton Marathon.

But the chef has set himself an even bigger challenge as he will be pushing his son Nathan, 15, who has severe learning disabilities, in his wheelchair, for the entire 26.1 miles.

The pair completed their longest distance to date this weekend, a nine-mile run.

Ricky, of Tarring Road, Worthing, said: “We are hoping to raise money for the Ashdown Centre in Worthing which is part of Guild Care.

“Nathan attends Ashdown Youth where he mixes with other teenagers with disabilities. They do fun activities at the centre and go out for trips.

“It is clearly the highlight of Nathan’s week when he arrives and sees the staff and his friends – he absolutely loves going to the centre, the staff are fantastic and he always has a huge smile when we drop him off.

“It’s so important that places like Ashdown keep raising money as it is extremely difficult for people with disabilities like Nath to mix with other people their own age.

“Ashdown also provide sessions for siblings of disabled children where they can meet with other kids in a similar situation to them.”

Ricky said running with Nathan is not as hard as he thought, adding; “I would say it was about one-and-a-half times harder than running normally.

“Nath is really strong so he is quite heavy because he is so muscley.

“But I am determined to so this and can be quite stubborn when I put my mind to something so I will finish it no matter what.

“Nathan loves it when there are people around so I think the marathon will be amazing for him, especially near the finish line when people will be clapping, he is really going to like that.”

Ricky’s wife Susie said: “Nath has a global developmental delay. He has got no speech and his understanding of language is quite limited but he is very fun to be around and really smiley.

“He gets so much out of the club and it is great because he attends a school for pupils with severe learning disabilities in Horsham, so this is his only chance to meet other people locally.

“Ricky wanted to do this challenge as a way of saying thank you and I am so proud of them both.”

To make a donation go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com and search ‘Ricky Edwards’.