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An inspirational Warkworth father is planning to run more than 100km in just 18 hours along the Te Araroa trail to Puhoi this month to raise money for Ronald McDonald House NZ.
Aidan Smith and his partner Emily have spent many months in and out of Auckland’s Starship Hospital with their son Luke, who has suffered serious heart and digestive problems since he was born in late 2020. At two days old, he was diagnosed with Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome, a heart irregularity where the treatment included holding his head in ice cold water for up to three times a day. At nine months, he was constantly vomiting, to the point where it stunted his growth, needed a feeding tube for months and had to be taught how to chew and swallow. At one point, his parents were told he could have a fatal mitochondrial disease and there is still no conclusive diagnosis.
Aidan says the care experienced at Starship has been humbling throughout and he wants to give something back not only to the hospital and other parents with sick or injured children, but also to his son.
“Luke’s start to his life has been quite a challenge,” he says. “As a parent it’s important to show your children that no matter what, challenges can be overcome even if they seem impossible. This is why I want to drag myself 105km, to show him Joe Bloggs can do it.”
Aidan had originally been planning to run 102km in the Tarawera Ultra Marathon, but the event was cancelled when the country went to the Red traffic light setting last month, so he decided to redirect his commitment closer to home.
“I run that area quite a lot – I quite often run the Tamahunga section,” he says. “I’ve done most of the route in different parts and I always wanted to run Puhoi to Leigh. Then, when Tarawera was cancelled, I realised I could do the whole 105km from Waipu south.”
But don’t be fooled by the rigorous regime – Aidan is not an experienced long-distance runner.
“I was never a runner. I always looked at running as a means of training for something else,” he says. “I got into running mainly when we were in Starship. It was always a good outlet. I found myself running when I got home from the hospital, to clear my thoughts and sort my head out.”
Aidan says when he committed to his long-distance run, he decided to try to raise a bit of money in the process, and thought if he could get $1000, that would be awesome. However, since spreading the word on social media, he has been overwhelmed by the response. As Hibiscus Matters went to press, almost $10,000 had been pledged, including $5000 from Aidan’s employer, Hiway Stabilizers.
“It’s just amazing,” he says.
Aidan has worked out a timetable of where he’ll be at various times on the day – Saturday, February 12 – in the hope that people will come out to support him and say hello when he stops for a quick breather and some sustenance. Coasties will have to set their alarms early, however, as his ETA at the Puhoi Sports Club is 3am on Sunday, February 13.
Meanwhile, young Luke is now doing well, though the cause of his problems remains a mystery.
“Luke is really good. He’s been a real trooper,” Aidan says. “He had all his genetics and our genetics sent to the US to see if they could find out what’s going on, but there’s no real conclusive diagnosis, and his medical case is sitting with a research group in Australia who look into rare diseases.
“But in front of us is this really cool kid who seems completely normal. He’s a little bit small, but other than that, he’s doing really, really well.”
Donations can be made at https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/running-for-ronald
