Teacher to run London marathon after losing daughter and having heart surgery
A London teacher who had heart surgery only 10 weeks ago is to run the marathon on Sunday to honour her daughter who died after being diagnosed with a heart syndrome.
Teacher Sophie Martin, 31, wants to run with her newly healed heart and show her students they can find strength after grief.
Mrs Martin, who is PE lead at St James’ Roman Catholic Primary School in Greater London, is one of 39 teachers given a place to run the London marathon on April 26 by Team TCS Teachers.
“My heart felt broken in more ways than one” after losing Olive, Mrs Martin said.
At Mrs Martin’s 12-week scan, her daughter Olive was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, where the left side of the organ is underdeveloped.
Olive was born in autumn 2024 and was “really strong”, Mrs Martin said, but suffered a cardiac arrest and died two days after her birth.
Olive’s death has left Mrs Martin, her husband and their now four-year-old son Arthur with “a lot of grief, sadness and shock”, she said.
She said it is important for her and her own healing to talk about Olive.
The family is Christian and Mrs Martin said she and her husband talk with Arthur about a book that says “the moon is always round”, which is their way of explaining to him that even when things seem dark or difficult, God is good.
During labour with Olive, Mrs Martin was also diagnosed with heart arrhythmia. She had surgery to correct this just 10 weeks before she will run the London marathon.
Sophie first started running during the Covid pandemic and said it had helped as she processed her grief over Olive’s death.
She ran the Royal Parks marathon last year, almost a year after Olive’s death, and raised £5,000 for Demelza Hospice, which supported her and her family after Olive died.
“For me, this marathon is a new chapter,” Mrs Martin said. “Running with a newly healed heart is my way of honouring Olive and showing my students, and myself, that even after immense grief, you can find strength and joy. It’s a reminder that life keeps going and I’m ready to see how much further I can go.”
“I never thought I’d get in (to the marathon),” Mrs Martin told the Press Association. “I honestly was really surprised when the email came in. I’d just had my heart surgery, and then it must have been about two weeks later I found out that I’d got in and I thought ‘I don’t know if I can even physically do this’.”
It has been a challenge, she said, and she hopes she has inspired her students and instilled in them that hard things are not impossible.
Published: by Radio NewsHub