Proud daughter praises father for 24-hour fundraising marathon run for poorly girl
A Black Country man has completed a remarkable day of fundraising running to help a special little girl.
David Edwards, from Stourbridge, spent 24 hours running on a treadmill between 12pm on Sunday, April 30, and 12pm on Monday, May 1 to raise funds for Gracie Tudor, a Kingswinford toddler battling neuroblastoma and requiring specialist treatment in the United States.
The 58-year-old took on the challenge at the Gym Group in Stourbridge and showed his progress on Facebook, with several Facebook Live videos detailing his progress and showing the effort he was putting in to complete the challenge.
His daughter Charlie Edwards said he had been keen to do a charity challenge and initially wanted to do it for Cancer Research, but decided to raise for Gracie after hearing about her plight.
She said: "I've got three children myself who are similar ages to Gracie, so I kind of prompted him to do it her, especially as she's local and it just hits home when you've got children your own age.
"He was more than happy to go it for Gracie and he got a lot of support from Gracie's mum and dad when they joined the Facebook Live to give him some support."
Ms Edwards said he had raised £685 for Gracie's appeal and was sleeping off his efforts, having kept going for the full 24 hours.
She also said it was a big effort for her father to take on a running challenge as she said he was not a keen runner and had only decided to do this at the last minute, so hadn't had much time to prepare.
She said: "He's a big foodie and he likes a drink and only started going to the gym about six months ago, plus it was a sort of last minute thing and he'd done no training or preparation for it.
"He got to midnight last night and we said he could slow down or stop if he wanted as he looked in pain and very out of breath, but he said no and said he wanted to do the full 24 hours.
"I'm just so proud of him for going on and doing it and I think it's great that he can take himself out of his comfort zone and do something like this for someone else."
To donate to David's fund, go to gofundme.com/f/24-hour-treadmill-walk-for-gracie
Gracie's appeal has currently raised £67,908. To find out more about Gracie and to donate, go to gofundme.com/f/gracies-treatment-in-america
