Gateshead dad Andy Sanderson completed the 68 mile Hadrian's Wall run in just 14 hours to honour the memory of his son Zachary who died aged just six weeks old.
Andy was joined for the last few miles of the Carlisle to Newcastle run by his partner Caroline William after their beloved child passed away in 2015. Since then the couple have taken part in a series of events, raising nearly £50,000 for the Tiny Lives Trust which supports seriously ill babies and their families at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Zachary spent weeks there after he was diagnosed shortly after birth with the extremely rare condition Moebius Syndrome, a life long form of facial paralysis, as well as Central Sleep Apnoeas, where the brain occasionally stops telling the body to breathe.
Read more: Gateshead mum's beautiful birthday tribute to son who died at six weeks old
Andy and Caroline spent weeks at his side as doctors did all they could to save him. As a result of the Central Sleep Apnoeas, they were told this would mean that Zachary would have to spend the rest of his life attached to a ventilator.
Eventually they had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn the ventilator off as medics told them he would have no quality of life. The couple were allowed to take their child home and he died in their arms.
Caroline, 36, said: "It was the hardest six weeks of our lives but at the same time the best six weeks as we saw how much effort the staff there put in to helping him. We wanted to give back something to Tiny Lives."
The couple have two more children, Arabella, aged five and four-year-old Harry, who offered huge encouragement to their dad at the start of his epic challenge.
Speaking after 'The Wall' ultramarathon organised by Rat Race, in which around 800 people took part, Andy, 39, said: "I was in a world of pain but it was worth it. I wasn't into running to start off with and did 1,000 km in the first year which seems a bit strange now I've done around 100km in a day."
He has subsequently taken on a series of challenges including half marathons, full marathons, and a series of virtual runs, aided by colleagues and staff at the Egger factory in Hexham, Northumberland where he is plant director.
In 2020 during the Covid lockdown he and his colleagues took part in a 1,500-mile virtual team run from the Egger plant in Barony, Ayrshire, Scotland to its head office in St. Johann in Tirol, Austria.
When the couple started their fundraising efforts they set a target of £5,000, which has just kept growing, helped both by contributions from colleagues, the public and Egger itself which donates five euros for every kilometre Andy runs.
"That's an extra 500 euros for the pot for this run alone and it keeps the fund ticking over," said Andy. "I've worked at the Egger plant for 18 years. They're a great employer and have really backed me."
"I don't know what I'll be doing next. If we hit the £50,000 we might add another £10,000 to the target and keep going."
If Zachary had lived he would have been seven last month. In a moving post on their JustGiving page, the couple wrote: "We are determined that Zachary's life has a long lasting legacy and am trying to achieve this by helping to raise money and awareness for charities associated with his conditions and his life."
They added: "The decision to turn off Zachary's ventilator was the hardest, most painful decision we have ever had to make, but faced with this news it was clear that he would have no quality of life and we did not want him to suffer any longer.
"We were able to bring him home with us and he lay in my arms as he left the world. He was sleeping peacefully and was not in any pain or discomfort. Caroline and I are devastated and heartbroken.
"He was so perfect, so gorgeous and brought us so much happiness in the six weeks we spent with him last year. He was strong, brave and courageous. Zachary, you will be forever loved, always missed and never forgotten."
- If you'd like to donate, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/runningforzachary
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