Mother running every day in April to raise money for Bassetlaw Hospital after doctors helped treat her son when he was just months old

Emma Salt is raising money for the children’s ward at the hospital in Worksop.

Her oldest son, Dan, was taken into Bassetlaw Hospital when he was just seven-months-old with what would later be diagnosed as severe bilateral urinary reflux - a urinary tract infection that is very rare in boys.

Dan had to stay on antibiotics for four years after the diagnosis and go for annual scans to check for signs of infection until he was 14-years-old.

Dan is now 25 and a 6’7 gentle giant, as described by his mother, who has played rugby at a high level, and is currently training for his first strong man competition.

Emma, from Clowne, said: “The runs are between 2km and 5km every day.

"On the first day of April, I was full of enthusiasm, thinking yes, I can do this, but over the weekend my speed dropped and I was really disappointed.

"However, I then had an epiphany moment and thought that timing doesn’t matter, the fact that I am out there running a mile and a half every day for an amazing cause is what counts, and that in itself for someone who is not a runner is an achievement.

“If I think back to the 25-year-old me, sitting by a cot on the children’s ward, and how I was then, my body then can do things that it can’t do now, however there was no way that I could have run every day of a month.

"I did not run at all, my exercise was chasing after a toddler.”

She added: “I think when you have a poorly child at whatever age, sometimes you can’t see the way out of it.

"If anyone can read this story, and they are going through tests or anything like that, I hope they could see this as an example of when things can get better.

"If you look at Dan, he doesn’t look like a child with a kidney problem or who spent a week in hospital.”

Senior sister on the children’s ward, Catherine Burke, passed on her thanks to Emma.

She said: “We are extremely thankful for Emma’s fundraising efforts and for remembering the unit so long after Dan was last with us.

"The money raised will be put to fantastic use, allowing us to continue to help children, like Dan, who need our help.”

To donate to Emma’s fundraising efforts visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/emma-salt4

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