Dad to surpass couch to 5k with hundreds of miles for Roald Dahl Nurses

A father whose seriously ill daughter’s life was transformed by Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity is determined to run hundreds of miles to raise cash for their work.

David Barnsley-Parsons, 40, has already completed more than 55 miles of road races after starting “couch to 5k” training in 2022.

He has since completed races including the Southampton half-marathon and London Marathon last April and has made a New Year’s resolution to keep going in 2025.

And, as he’s run, he has raised more than £7,500 so far to support the work of Roald Dahl Nurses and highlight the work done by the charity.

David and his wife Lizzie’s daughter Harriet, five, was born with a genetic chromosome imbalance which causes learning difficulties and epilepsy.

The extent of the different appointments and medication needed to treat her was at first confusing and stressful for the family.

IT specialist David and energy company worker Lizzie, 35, from Portsmouth say their Roald Dahl nurse Rebecca Case changed their lives and enabled them to cope with it all.

Rebecca is one of 150 specialist nurses supported in NHS Trusts across the UK by the charity and they currently care for around 36,000 seriously-ill children.

David said: “We realise how lucky we are to live near a hospital in Portsmouth which has a Roald Dahl Nurse supporting families like ours.

“We also realised as we got to know the charity how many children each nurse supports, but how thousands of other families still don’t have access to one and how hard the charity is working to change that.”

David says it is thanks to their Roald Dahl Nurse that they’re not in a constant state of panic in between appointments or as they deal with each seizure.

And they are no longer constantly worrying about whether they should be going back into hospital or keeping Harriet off school or chasing up a new medication.

Lizzie said: “That has changed the experience of school for Harriet and our approach to her being there. We are less living on edge waiting for another call about another seizure.”

David says running was about raising money to start with but as he ran he says he realised how few people had heard of the charity.

That inspired him to share the story of Roald Dahl Nurses and he has subsequently given talks to hundreds at local parish meetings and shared his story at work for the Managed Service Provider Cobweb.

David said: “And when we had an awards dinner for one of the companies we work with, I was able to invite Becs along to talk to the guests and her speech about her work and the charity raised thousands for a new Roald Dahl Nurse the charity wanted to establish in the south west.”

He added that apart from raising cash and awareness for the charity: “There is something I’ve discovered about running which I always remember at this time of year as everyone makes new resolutions.

“To go out the front door and enjoy the calmness of the outdoors to put one foot in front of the other feels therapeutic to me.

“It clears my mind and clears stress as you focus on your breathing and the route and your goal to go one lamppost further, or one more kilometer as you head towards a major run.

“Running has helped me through the most stressful of times. And resolving to use my running to do good – to put that energy into something so positive – feels rather marvellous.”

The charity’s mission is to provide specialist nurses and support for seriously ill children living with complex, lifelong conditions.

The Daily Express Christmas Charity Appeal this year is helping raise money to support the charity in providing more nurses.

As well as caring the for children and their families, the Roald Dahl nurses also relieve the pressure on hard-pressed NHS teams.

Their work reduces the number of appointments children need, cuts back on their time in hospital and the number of visits they need to make to A&E.

Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity is supported by some amazing people, including our Royal Patron Her Majesty The Queen, and Dame Joanna Lumley who has been involved with our work for over 15 years and who launched this newspaper appeal in December.

Every £1 you donate to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity will be doubled up to £30,000 thanks to a generous group including Brioche Pasquier UK.
By post: Make your cheque payable to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and send in a stamped envelope to: Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, 17 Chiltern Business Centre, 63-65 Woodside Road, Amersham HP6 6AA.
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