Join Mark and run the Yorkshire Marathon for YTHC

When Mark Rogers received a call to say his mum was in A&E at York Hospital it was the start of a 36 hour roller coaster journey which changed his life.

Mark’s dad had called to say his mum, Valerie, had suffered a minor angina attack but by the time Mark reached the hospital she had already taken a turn for the worse.

Mark said: “I’ve never seen so many hardworking, caring members of staff, from all the nurses to the doctors, they were all trying to save mum. She was stabilised and taken to ICU where the level of care and information we received went up to another level. We were told to go home and get some rest. Unfortunately we were called back to the hospital the next morning. Mum had suffered several heart attacks and her blood pressure was dangerously low.

“My mum passed away lunchtime of 15 April, all the staff were extremely sympathetic and continued to treat her as if she was still with us. We were continually kept informed and told we had as long as we needed, which was several hours.”

A week later Mark, age 37, from Wakefield, received an email about the Yorkshire Marathon and spotted charity places for the York Teaching Hospital Charity.

Mark continued: “This was my opportunity to give something back to York Hospital as a kind of thank you and to raise money to help continue the teaching and training. This hopefully will produce more members of staff as kind, caring, and professional as the ones that I encountered while going through one of the toughest times of my life.”

Not only is Mark to run the Yorkshire Marathon on his fundraising mission, he has just completed the Jane Tomlinson 10k run for the charity. 

He is hoping to raise £250 which will go to help more patients like Valerie in the future.

Lucy Lowthian, Fundraising Manager for York Teaching Hospital Charity, said: “We can’t thank Mark enough for his hard work raising funds for the charity. It will make such a difference to so many people in providing the care and services people receive throughout their hospital journey.”

The York Teaching Hospital charity still has a few places left for runners wanting to take part in the Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday 11 October. To book a place call 01904 724521 or contact charity.fundraising@york.nhs.uk.

04 August 2015