Inspirational Crawley teen who was born with heart condition hopes to raise £3000 for charity by running half marathon

Isaac Warnfeldt-Rush, from Ifield, turns 16 on January 15 and just three days after his birthday, he has decided to run a Half Marathon in London and hopefully raise £3000 to benefit Evelina Children's Heart Organisation (ECHO), which has been such a big part in his life.

The St Wilfrid’s Catholic School pupil was born with a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy and he spent the first few days of his life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at The Evelina.

“We nearly lost him,” said dad Gavin . “But he proved in the first days of life he was a fighter. We were expecting a lifetime of medication and were also told he was unlikely going to be able to take part in any contact sport. Isaac proved everyone wrong.

"He now is part of Team GB for full contact Karate and has taken part in world, European and international events all over the world.”

And when the family went away for Christmas, his mum Mimmi said Isaac told them about the challenge on the plane. “It is the best way he can think of challenging himself and raise money.

“He trains five or six days a week and are very seldom faced by anything fitness related. However he is not a ‘runner’ and has not specifically trained for this event. It will definitely be a challenge!”

Isaac has set a route in front of Evelina Hospital, which is part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, the Houses of Parliament, involving Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge.

Mimmi said: “He is doing a loop about 11 times so friends, family and supporters can come and cheer him on. There might also be a few supporters running some of the distance with him.

“Isaac wants to make sure he gets all the exposure he can get and has also made a ‘promotional’ short video that will go out on social media to raise awareness with a QR-code and links to the fundraiser and that will hopefully attract lots of interest and lead to more donations.”

Mimmi and Gavin are proud of what Isaac is doing. “To say that we are proud of Isaac’s drive ,determination and dedication is the biggest understatement,” said Mimmi.

“He is a very kind, thoughtful and generous young man. He had a start in life that was not giving us much hope at all. But Isaac had showed us all from the very beginning that he was doing it his own way.

“He is unstoppable and incredibly driven.”

And Isaac has shown this drive and determination in Karate. He was first selected to represent Team GB three years ago to go to Armenia for the European Championships. He was the youngest GB member going out and he came home with a silver. He has since then continued to go from strength to strength.

His biggest tournament was the IFK World Tournament in Leipzig in May2025.

Mimmi said: “He wants it so be a part of his life going forward, and is hoping to build a career in the sports industry and to interlink it with Karate. He has been helping to coach the juniors at the club for a few years already and he is enjoying it immensely.”

Mimmi, Gavin and Isaac’ three siblings, Yasmin Rush, Jordan Rush and Louie Warnfeldt-Rush, family and friends all be at the Evelina cheering from the sidelines, late morning, on Sunday, January 18.

You can donate to Isaac’s challenge at GoFundMe here https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-marathon-fund-raising-challenge?attribution_id=sl:ce211f6b-1cf4-4a39-961b-12fabf3d5862&lang=en_GB&ts=1767565150&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=qr_code.

ECHO supports children and young people with heart conditions and their families, who have received treatment at the Evelina London Children's Hospital or at one of the peripheral clinics. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and affects just under 1 in 100 babies born throughout the UK. The range of conditions and treatments available mean that for children and parents the treatment pathway can be very different to anyone else they might meet with CHD.