Give to GOSH: Seven-year-old leukaemia patient's family raises thousands in Santa Dash

The family of seven-year-old leukaemia patient Rowan Pethard raised thousands of pounds for Great Ormond Street Hospital this weekend.

Rowan’s grandmother Sandra Brooke led a 40-strong team of family and friends in the hospital’s inaugural Santa Dash on Clapham Common yesterday.

Rowan, whose progress is being followed as part of the Evening Standard’s Give to GOSH campaign, helped to start the race.

Competitors dressed in Santa suits and ran a five- or 10-kilometre course.

Charity run: GOSH patient Rowan Pethard (Picture: Ash Knotek)
Ash Knotek

Rowan’s family say they have taken great comfort from fundraising for the hospital since he became ill. Within days of him being admitted to GOSH Mrs Brooke decided she had to act.

“I’d always supported GOSH but when Rowan got sick, I knew I had to do something. Fundraising was something I could do to support him,” she said.

She immediately signed up 57 relatives and friends to run in a five-kilometre race at Battersea Park in June and raised more than £33,000 for the hospital.

Funding boost: GOSH patient Rowan Pethard with charity runner team 'Woody for RoRo' (Picture: Ash Knotek)
Ash Knotek

The team was named “Woody for RoRo” after the family’s dog. Members of the same group took part in yesterday’s Santa Dash and raised almost £5,000.

Mrs Brooke said: “I’m just the instigator. We have an army of family and friends, including my husband, who ran on a new knee, and Rowan’s father Steve.”

Rowan, from Hemel Hempstead, was diagnosed with leukaemia in April. The worst of his treatment is over but he still has more than two years of follow-up treatment ahead of him. He currently has a virus and is on a high dose of antibiotics. He is trying to rest as much as he can so that he can begin maintenance treatment, which has had to be delayed because of the virus.

Where will money donated to the Give to GOSH appeal go?

  • Funding the Louis Dundas Centre for Children’s Palliative Care, for patients who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions
  • Supporting the creation of a new specialist unit helping children with heart failure to stay well while they wait for a heart transplant
  • Funding research programmes, which aim to find new cures and treatments for children with rare diseases
  • Funding the patient and family support programme at the hospital, including a dedicated play team which designs activities for children to aid their treatment, recovery and understanding of their illness. It also funds a wide range of other support, all helping to make life as “normal” as possible for families while children are in hospital, often for weeks or months at a time

The money from the Santa Dash will go towards upgrading buildings and creating additional space for patients, some of whom will spend their Christmas at the hospital.

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