Cowfold dad continues to thank charity after son needed life-saving surgery at nine-hours-old

Andy Fountain will run three half and three full marathons for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity – the official fundraising arm of the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton where his son Eddie was rushed to shortly after being born in 1994.

The 53-year-old said: “I’ve really been fundraising from the first day of Ed’s life. I started with a sponsored swim and have been trying to do things ever since. We were so lucky to have the Alex and all the wonderful support they provided to Ed over the years.

“Having a sick child can be difficult for the whole family but knowing that Ed was receiving such great treatment from such a dedicated team made all the difference and I wanted to make sure that continued for other families who found themselves in a similar position.”

Eddie was born with tracheo-oesophageal fistula and oesophageal atresia which meant that the connection between the upper and lower parts of his oesophagus had not properly joined, and the lower half was attached to his windpipe leaving him unable to feed properly.

The six-hour operation to reattach his oesophagus correctly when he was just hours old started a 19-year journey of procedures and surgeries to help improve his condition.

He was continuously in-and-out of intensive care for the first six months of his life and had to use a feeding tube.

Andy said: “Ed underwent many more operations to correct complications – one surgery resulted in a potentially life-threatening complication. At the time, we could only wait and hope that all would be OK.

“He eventually came through and had his feeding tube removed on his first birthday.”

During his teenage years, Ed was told that he may struggle with certain foods and that everyday activities that could be taken for granted, such as eating pizza with friends, could be a challenge but he is thankfully able to eat most things now.

He was eventually discharged from the children’s hospital shortly after his 18th birthday and he is now 27, married and living in Haywards Heath.

While he still has physical scars from his operations, they are a reminder of all the support he received. He said: “We call the scars on my stomach the spider but they’re there to show that they did what they had to do to help me.

“I’m here because they knew what they were doing and did what they could. I’m here because of their skill and the support from the team at The Alex.”

Over the years, dad Andy has raised more than £10,000 by undertaking many physical challenges, including every Brighton Marathon since they started in 2010, and in 1995, 2003 and 2018 Andy even cycled the length of Britain

This year he’s already completed the London Landmarks half marathon with the Royal Parks and Oxford half marathons and the Brighton, Berlin and London full marathons next on his list and all happening between now and mid-October this year.

Andy said: “They were all supposed to be much more spread out but because a lot were postponed due to Covid, they have all come at the same time.

“But it’s great really because running is such a big part of my life.

“My wife Amanda generally asks what’s wrong with me when I get up so early to go out for a run but it’s great for me to get out in my own space for my head, more than my legs. Before Covid I would cycle 40 miles a day to and from the office whereas now, working from home, it’s only about 10 yards down the stairs so I now have to try and get the motivation to go out before work.”

Despite being nervous about the events taking place close together, Andy is keen to continue supporting the charity. He said: “This has been a small way that I’ve been able to give back and say thank you for all the amazing work the charity does – they continue to help parents who are going through what we went through.”

Lucy Pond, challenge events manager at Rockinghorse, is always blown away by the support that Andy gives to the charity, but this year says it’s even more amazing.

She said: “Andy is such a dedicated supporter of the work we do. Being the parent of a sick child really gives you an understanding of the amazing support the staff at the Alex provide and in Andy’s case he really has gone above and beyond to thank them.

“We wish him all the luck in the world for these marathons and will be looking forward to seeing what his next challenge will be!”

To donate, click here or search ‘Andrew Fountain’ on the Virgin Money Giving website.