Boy, 4, takes on 1.5km run to raise hospital funds

A four-year-old boy is doing a 1.5 km (nearly one mile) run to raise money for the hospital where his baby sister had heart surgery.

Joey, from Ombersley in Worcestershire, is taking part in a children’s event at the Great Birmingham Run on Sunday.

Joey had asked how he could raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital after his sister Sophia was treated there last year, his parents said. He has raised almost £2,000 so far.

"I'm really, really proud of him. I cry whenever I see the fundraising total going up," his mother Megan said.

Sophia was diagnosed with pulmonary stenosis, a heart condition that reduces blood flow to the lungs, just after she was born.

She had surgery at the hospital in October.

Megan said Joey had asked how he could raise money for the hospital while visiting his sister there.

When the family saw an advert for the run, he asked if he could register for it.

His initial target was £200, which he has surpassed.

The annual Great Birmingham Run includes two events for adults, a 2.5km run for children aged 9-15, and a 1.5km run for those aged 3-8.

"It's a 1.5K run but for someone of his small stature it's a huge, huge effort to go to." Joey's father Matthew, who has been training with his son ahead of the event, said.

Sophia will remain under the hospital's care until she is an adult and is likely to need further surgery as a teenager, to replace the faulty valve in her heart.

Joey enjoys helping to feed his little sister and change her nappies.

"She constantly laughs and smiles at him, more than she does with anybody else,” Megan said.

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