On Sunday 26th April, Martin Broomfield will be joining hundreds pounding the streets of Southampton for the ABP Southampton 10k Run, and proudly pinned to his Smile4Wessex running vest will be a photo of his father, Terence (pictured here).

Terence suffered a brain haemorrhage on 6th January 2014 and was admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Wessex Neurological Centre where he was put into an induced coma and looked after on a one-to-one basis. He also required emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, which had swelled as a result of a fall he had following the haemhorrage. Martin takes up the story.

"After everything that could be done there had been done, on 12th January my father was transferred to Poole Hospital.  Unfortunately he showed no signs of improvement and, after being told it was very unlikely he’d ‘wake’ up, on 14th January my family made the decision to turn off life support.

"Sadly the WNC was unable to save my father, but whilst I was on the ward waiting for news, I read news articles displayed on the walls, of many situations where peoples’ lives had been saved by the amazing work carried out there. People involved in horrific car or bike accidents, for example. It made inspiring reading.

"I am – and will forever be – sincerely grateful for the work carried out by the professional team at the WNC, to try and make my father better. As a way of showing my gratitude I would like to do something to help raise funds for the WNC’s charity arm ‘Smile4Wessex’. This I am doing by way of a sponsored 10-kilometre (approximately 6 mile) organised run, fittingly in Southampton. I will be wearing a photo of my father on my running vest, to remind me during the run not to give up – something I kept telling him while he was in the coma."

If you spot Martin on the streets of Southampton on 26th April, then please cheer him on, and if you'd like to sponsor him for his efforts then you can do so by visiting his fundraising page by clicking HERE.