Four members of staff at Oswestry’s specialist orthopaedic hospital are hard at work training and fundraising for the Virgin Money London Marathon, taking place later this year.

Emily Storey, PhD Student; Jade Perry, Post-Doctoral Research Associate; Karl McGuire; Healthcare Assistant; and Mr Sudheer Karlakki, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon; will all be taking on the 26-mile race around the capital.

Joining The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital staff members at will be eight members of the local community who have all pledged to raise a minimum of £1,500 for the RJAH Charity to support the funding of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.

Colleagues Emily and Jade have combined their efforts to fundraise together, and are planning to take on the run side-by-side also.

Emily said: “Running the London Marathon is going to be a huge challenge for us both, but we are incredibly excited – this opportunity has given us something to look forward too and work towards during these strange times.”

Jade added: “The RJAH Charity is a cause of particular importance to both Emily and I. Working on site at the RJAH has allowed us to see, first-hand, the profound impact that it has on the lives of so many. It’s a source of great pride for me to work here, and I can’t think of a better way to show how grateful I am, than to represent the RJAH at this year’s London Marathon”.

Karl, who works in the Main Outpatients Department at the Oswestry-based hospital, is aiming to run the marathon in 4 hours 10 minutes.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to be taking part in the London Marathon and running past the iconic landmarks in the capital.

“My colleagues in the Main Outpatients Department will also be supporting me with my fundraising – they have raised money before for both internal and external fundraising efforts so it’ll be great to have their support.”

The race, which is taking place on Sunday 3 October, will see Mr Karlakki getting back into running after 30 years.

He said: “It’s been a personal goal to run a marathon in memory of my father, who sadly passed away a few years ago.

“I’ve seen first-hand how the RJAH Charity supports us as staff to deliver world-class patient care and I’m really looking forward to playing my part in this.”

If you would like to support any of our staff runners, you can do so via their JustGiving pages:

Mark Brandreth, Chief Executive, said: “We are so grateful for the support of everyone who is running the London Marathon to raise money for our hospital charity.

“It is great to once again see a number of colleagues taking part, as well as members of the public. Their efforts will raise vital funds to support our patients – after the events of the past year, this has never been more important.

“We have had to find new and innovative ways to ensure we can maintain our services and keep them safe during a pandemic. This clearly has a cost implication, so the support of our loyal fundraisers is vital and makes a tangible difference.”

For more information about taking part in the Virgin Money London Marathon for RJAH, please visit: www.rjah.nhs.uk/marathon.

Pictured: RJAH staff members Jade Perry, Karl McGuire, Emily Storey and Mr Sudheer Karlakki ahead of the Virgin Money London Marathon later this year.