RYAN Hinchliffe and his friends smashed the Sheffield Half Marathon carrying additional weighted vests weighing 20kg to raise money for the hospital unit that looked after Ryan’s son who was born two months prematurely.
Freddie was born last August and Ryan wanted to give something back in appreciation of the care that his partner Hayley and the baby received.
And give back he did with a liittle bit of help from his friends.
The final fundraising total for Barnsley Hospital Charity Neonatal Unit was £3,150.
And the amazing camaraderie among the fundraising friends prompted Barnsley Hospital Charity to nominate Ryan and his friends Lee Hatfield, Dan Staves, Sean Burke, Ashley Greenwood, Nathan Cox, Sam Parkin, Sammy Williams and Ian Fearnley in the Proud of Barnsley Charity Team of the Year category.
A hospital charity spokesman said: “Their amazing camaraderie was great to see between the friends, who have pledged to fundraise every year, too.”
Ashley added: “As a group of friends we are very close and we were only too happy to support Ryan getting involved and taking part for a great cause.”
The team who clearly have a strong bond also coined the phrase: “We were volun-told that we were running rather than volunteered.”
Ryan said: “The staff in the neonatal department went above and beyond while we were there for a month.
“They made our time there a lot easier, particularly having our older son Olly, who is eight, and juggling time between hospital and home.
“Nothing can prepare you for something like this mentally.
“At times it was exhausting seeing your son in an incubator with tubes but the staff at the neonatal unit were unbelievable and made this experience a lot easier for me and my family.
“I can’t thank them enough and I did the challenge as a thank you to them and raise a bit of money along the way.”