Little girl running Mini Great Manchester Run for the Christie

A four-year-old girl from Whitworth will be running the Mini Great Manchester Run on Sunday 19 May to raise funds for the Christie hospital in Manchester.

Lillie-Mai Davies decided to raise money for the Christie as her beloved grandad, John Thornley, 69, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in December 2018 and is being cared for by the hospital.

Lillie-Mai also has a teddy bear from the Christie – her ‘chemo bear’ – which she takes to school on the days that John has chemotherapy so that she feels close to her grandad. Similarly, John has a card, teddy and an aquabead dog next to him during treatment.

 

 

Mum Joanne Davies said: “Being close to her grandad, Lillie-Mai wanted to know all about his treatment, so we took her to the Christie during half term where she was speaking to the people in the charity shop. She then said to me that she wanted to raise money for Christie as they were looking after her granddad.

“I signed her up for the run and she happily and enthusiastically told people that she was doing a marathon to raise money for the hospital that was looking after her Grandad.

“Lillie-Mai will tell people what she is doing and why, asking parents in the playground, parents at her local dance school and even strangers on the bus and on the streets to sponsor her.”

 

 

The Great Manchester Mini Run is a 1.5km route in the centre of Manchester, open to three to eight-year olds.

So far, Lillie-Mai has raised just over £600 for the hospital and will be presenting the funds to the hospital staff herself.

Donations can be made via PayPal to Joanne:

• jodavies1979@gmail.com