Hospital Staff Run Marathon
Release Date
Monday 21 January 2013
Two members of staff from The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Oswestry (RJAH) are currently in training for the London Virgin Marathon in April running in aid of The Oswestry Bone Cancer Centre Appeal. Ellen Harrison from the Tumour Unit and Andrew Biggs from Medical Illustration will join 29 other runners supporting the RJAH Appeal.
Andrew Biggs, 42, has spent all his working life at RJAH and is now the Manager of the Medical Illustration Department. No stranger to running, Andrew started as an amateur in 2010 when he ran the Lake Vyrnwy half marathon. His marathon training began in earnest in December 2012 and he is now clocking up 30 miles a week, with his eldest son, Josh, 13, sometimes joining him for the final leg of his training runs. Andrew is married to Karen, who is a medical secretary in the hospital’s Upper Limb Department, and they have two sons. Andrew says, “I try to get involved in one fundraising event every year and the opportunity this year to run for a vital work-based charity is highly rewarding. I also have a personal goal which is to run in it in less than four hours, a wager with a running friend, who has already run six London Marathons! In my view, everything flows from physical fitness.”
Ellen Harrison, from Oswestry, has worked at the Trust for 20 years, with the last six years as Cancer Patient Pathway Co-ordinator in the Tumour Unit. In 2011, with her colleague, Ellen climbed Kilimanjaro for cancer charities. Her current challenge of the London Virgin Marathon comes 13 years since she last ran the London and Dublin marathons. Ellen comments, “I am pleased to be completing the marathon and as a new grandma this time! Training is going well – I am doing about 8 hours a week, split between running and the gym. The cause is brilliant – to have a single unit for all our cancer patients will be especially useful for our younger adults.”
To donate to the Appeal: please click:
www.rjah.nhs.uk/bonecancerappeal
The new centre will treat cancer patients in a dedicated care environment. The current Tumour Unit at Oswestry’s specialist orthopaedic hospital delivers a nationally specialised bone tumour service, one of only five in the UK, with a catchment area of 9 million people. The new £2 million Oswestry Bone Cancer Centre, to be part funded by the RJAH, will include en-suite rooms, treatment and relaxation areas and a garden reflection space for patients. The new centre is planned to be located near the main entrance for ease of access.
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