Holbeach dad Rick is running 5 miles a day to thank Leicester charity which helped his daughter

A Holbeach dad will be putting on his trainers for an intensive challenge to give something back to the charity which helped his newborn daughter.

Nancy Limb, who is now aged three, was just six months-old when she underwent open heart surgery at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester after being diagnosed with a congenital condition when she was born.

She is now a lively three-year-old, and her parents Rick and Kayla Limb have been regularly supporting the hospital’s Heart Link charity to say thank you.

But Mr Limb will be going one step further this month when he takes on the challenge of running five miles every day in November for Heart Link.

Mr Limb, who is a seasoned runner with five London Marathons under his belt, said: “We are so grateful to the hospital and we want to say thank you for the support they gave us.

“Heart Link were there for us along with all the staff at Glenfield, they were absolutely amazing and we really want to give something back to help other people.

“We want to make sure that Heart Link can continue its work as a number of charities are struggling this year due to the current situation.”

Nancy was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, which is a congenital defect which affects the heart’s blood flow, shortly after she and her twin Florence were born in Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital in April 2017.

The girls were taken by ambulance to Glenfield Hospital after doctors had picked up on Nancy’s heart murmur and the condition was diagnosed by an echo cardiogram.

Doctors told Mr and Mrs Limb that they could not operate on Nancy until she was six months old or had reached 5kg in weight.

Nancy underwent the operation on November 6, 2017, when she was six months old.

Mr Limb said: “Nancy has super human strength. She was in the Intensive Care Unit for three days and was out of hospital within five days.

“She was in the operating theatre for six-and-a-half hours. They had to bypass her heart completely as they had to fix four defects.

“Nancy might need more surgery in the future but at our last check up, they said ‘see you in two years’.”

During Nancy’s treatment, Mr and Mrs Limb were able to stay near Nancy using Heart Link accommodation.

Mr Limb has already completed five London Marathons to raise money for heart charities in honour of his daughter.

He also set himself the goal of completing the prestigious marathon a total of 10 times.

But to show his support to Heart Link, Mr Limb decided to set himself the task of running five miles every day and has already raised £500 but hopes to increase this to £1,000.

He has also managed to clock in times of under 40 minutes.

Mr Limb said: “When I train for a marathon I do cross fit training and rowing during the week and probably run twice or three times a week with a rest day.

“But now I am running every day and my legs feel battered and my hips are sore but it is worth it to raise money for the charity.

“Their support was amazing.”

If you would like to help Mr Limb please go to justgiving.com and find Rick’s 5miles a day.