Man runs marathons as Spider-Man in memory of son

A man has spent the last 13 years running marathons dressed as Spider-Man to raise funds for the hospital that cared for his son before he died.

Daniel Rusby, from Uckfield, East Sussex, has completed races in London, Brighton, Goodwood and across the country.

He has collected more than 100 medals and said he was aiming to raise £10,000 for University Hospitals Birmingham Charity.

Rusby began fundraising after losing his son, Marshall, who died at four months old after being born prematurely.

"When I started running, I did a half marathon every month. The next year I did 12 months of running but I'll do it every week," Rusby told BBC Radio Sussex.

He has run the London Marathon three consecutive years, despite not enjoying running before taking on the challenge.

"Things that have happened to me with my son and after Covid, I started getting into running and I've been on a journey ever since" he added.

Marshall was born at 23 weeks gestation and was not expected to survive more than 24 hours.

After four months, Rusby was told that his son was breathing on his own and was strong enough to leave hospital care.

But shortly after this, his son got an infection, called Necrotizing Enterocolitis, which led to his death.

Rusby continues to credit the neonatal unit team at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham where his son was born, adding: "Everyone that was there did their best job.

"All the best doctors that had saved his life all those other times were there that night.

"It wasn't fair for me to choose for him to live."

Despite Marshall's death, Rusby said that he felt lucky to have been able to have had his son.

"I can't thank the doctors and nurses enough for giving me those four months with my son because some people don't even get to meet their child," he added.

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