The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A man who has quite literally flown the flag for Spalding across the country is to run the London Marathon for two charities, one of which is helping research a rare illness his wife suffers from.
Graham Hewitt is the standard bearer for the town’s branch of the Royal British Legion as well as its president.
Just months after representing the area at the Queen’s funeral he’s to return to London on April 23 to run 26.2 miles.
He’s going to be raising money for the legion and also for research into the rare hypertension condition his wife Jennifer suffers from.
Pulmonary hypertension is a condition that affects the lungs and there is no known cure. Life expectancy with the condition is three years without treatment and six with.
She has suffered with the condition for around six years.
It leaves her breathless after the simplest things, including getting up and down the stairs.
It’s a particular issue at the moment as the stair-lift at the couple’s Claudette Avenue home is currently not working and the only toilet is upstairs.
Jennifer has bought a commode to use during the day until South Holland District Council gets back to them about a decision on whether they will be granted a replacement in May.
“It’s ridiculous things like I can’t walk and carry something at the same time as it leaves me too out of breath,” said Jennifer who is 63 and had to give up working. “At this time of year when it’s cold it’s even worse.
“It affects all part of the body including your heart as it doesn’t get the oxygen it needs.”
Jennifer has oxygen at home and has taken part in numerous trials and research for Pulmonary Hypertension UK, based in Sheffield.
“I wanted to do some fund raising for both they and the legion and I thought, why not the marathon again,” said Graham who has run the event three times before, but not for 15 years.
“Those at Hypertension UK have been brilliant with Jennifer as they look after her and try and find a cure.
“I’ve been with the legion for 12 years now and standard bearer for a number of years as well as now president, so I’d like to raise money for them too.”
Graham’s going to be running the marathon with a special flag made by specialists Newton and Newton.
“Hopefully it’s only a tail wind all the way round,” he laughed.
You can offer to donate to Graham by emailing him on graham_hewitt@hotmail.co.uk
