A BASINGSTOKE dad is preparing to pound the streets of London to raise money in memory of his son who died aged two.

Jimmy Francis, 36, will take part in the London Marathon on April 23 to raise money for Sebastian’s Action Trust, where his son Romeo spent time before his death on October 12, 2021.

Romeo was born with a heart condition called tetralogy of fallot and needed open heart surgery when he was just four-months-old.

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However, his family were distraught to discover that little Romeo’s condition was much worse when he was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, which caused him to have multiple cardiac arrests from the age of 11-months.

The only treatment was a heart transplant, but Romeo was sadly not a suitable candidate.

After spending four months in intensive care, Romeo was discharged from hospital to receive palliative care at home where he and spent five months with his family before he died aged just two.

Jimmy married his partner Suzie Small in hospital when Romeo two, so that they could be with him for their special day.

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Remembering his son, Jimmy, from South Ham, said: “Romeo was a true warrior throughout his life, undergoing so many surgeries, medical treatments and facing so many obstacles along the way.

“I am channelling the inner strength Romeo showed every single day to get me through this marathon.”

Jimmy, who works as a decorator, has already smashed his £2,000 fundraising target for Sebastian’s Action Trust, which supported his family through their darkest days.

He said: “Sebastian’s Action Trust is a charity that is very close to my heart. Throughout my son’s life and throughout my bereavement they have been there every step of the way.

“The support we have received from them has been incredible and we have many fond memories with our son at The Bluebells; a home away from home run by Sebastian’s Action Trust.”

The charity runs The Bluebells in North Waltham, which is the UK’s only purpose-built facility, offering accessible breaks exclusively to the families of seriously-ill children.

Jimmy said: “During Romeo’s life our support worker was always there whenever we needed her, for an ear to listen and providing care packages when we were in hospital and at home.

“We have been fortunate enough to make use of their fantastic facilities at The Bluebells creating so many magical memories with Romeo during some of our many stays at the house.

“This gave us the opportunity to take him swimming, make use of the sensory room and the beautiful gardens.

"When my son was palliative they arranged for our whole extended family to have exclusive use of the house and gardens to make memories together and they even arranged a photographer to capture family photos of us, a day that we will all treasure for the rest of our lives.”

He said the charity has continued to be there for the family following Romeo’s death including allowing them to lay a stone for Romeo in the memory garden and providing support for the family, including their daughters.

“The support from our bereavement worker is so valuable and we always know she’s just a phone call away at any time,” said Jimmy, who hopes his marathon challenge will “raise as much money as possible for them so that they can continue to provide their incredible support to more families like ours”.

Sebastian’s Action Trust has five runners taking part in the London Marathon.

Susan Blues, senior events fundraiser for the charity, said: “We would like to wish our five London Marathon runners the best of luck for Sunday. Not only have they trained so hard to run the 26.2 miles, they have also raised over 6k which enables us to provide vital services to our families of seriously-ill children. Always.”

To donate to Jimmy’s fundraising page visit justgiving.com/fundraising/run4romeo