Read David's inspirational story and run the London Marathon for our charity!

Five years after a life-changing accident, David Lovelady completed the Virgin Money London Marathon to raise money for the hospital which brought his life back together.

Ahead of The Walton Centre Charity places opening for the 2021 Virtual Virgin Money London Marathon, David shares his experience.

Father-of-three David was 30 when he was knocked down by a drunk driver in August 2014. He suffered broken bones including a fractured skull, knee and shoulder plus a brain bleed. He spent a week in intensive care before being transferred to The Walton Centre for a further month until he was discharged. Ahead of him lay two years of rehabilitation and recovery, both physically and mentally.

Looking back, David considers himself lucky to have had a specialist hospital such as The Walton Centre on his doorstep.

“I’ve lived in Liverpool all my life but never thought about the amount of expertise right here in the city. I couldn’t say thank you enough for all the support and treatment and care everyone at The Walton Centre gave me,” he said.

“I thought the next best thing was to raise some money for the hospital. I’ve always been into running and keeping fit, so I thought I’d give the London Marathon a go – my friends and family were able to sponsor me and say thanks in their own way too.

David raised over £4200 and completed the 2019 event in 4 hours 36 mins.

“The day of the race was one of the best days of my life – it’s amazing such a positive thing could have come out of something so traumatic. The training was really hard, particularly through the winter but knowing people were sponsoring me and raising money for The Walton Centre got me through every single step.”

The Walton Centre Charity has ten places for people to run the 2021 Virtual Virgin Money London Marathon and raise money to support The Walton Centre hospital in providing the best treatment and care possible for its patients and their families.

David said the event will be one of the best experiences of your life.

“Until you encounter what The Walton Centre does what in terms of treating and enabling people to recover from life-changing injuries, you don’t realise what an amazing place it is.

“Raising money and awareness of the work The Walton Centre does, and how the Charity supports it, meant so much. It brings people’s lives back together and definitely brought mine back to me and my family.”

If you’re interested in taking part in the 2021 Virtual Virgin Money London Marathon for The Walton Centre Charity, email fundraising@thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk