A father is giving back to the charity that gave him and his wife a home from home to be close to their son fighting for his life.

David Plane, 37, from Danbury is set to pound the pavements of the capital at this year's London Marathon in support of the Sick Children's Trust.

The charity gave David and wife, Lesa a place to stay which their newborn baby, Broderick spent 30 days fighting for his life in hospital.

Brody, as he is known, was not breathing when he was born because he inhaled meconium during labour.

He needed a month of specialist lifesaving treatment at The Royal London Children’s Hospital.

The accommodation, Stevenson House allowed the parents to be close to Brody through his treatment.

David said: "We could read him bedtime stories, visit him at all hours and take every step with him.

"If it wasn’t for Stevenson House, we would’ve felt like were abandoning our son when we had to travel back home every day.

"It was invaluable as we were able to give Brody all the attention we could and bond with our baby."

Thankfully now Brody is very well, and David says "you wouldn’t believe how ill he was when he was born."

He is even supporting his dad as he trains for the marathon in less than four weeks time.

David said: "There have been lots of ups and downs in my training.

"I’ve had injuries and setbacks, but I’m determined to soldier on.

"There was a time that I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to take my son home and that reminds me that, whether I’m injured, unwell or busy with work, I can do this.

"I will do it for my family, friends and the charity that helped Lesa and me.”

David is hoping to raise £9,000 for the Sick Children's Trust.

He has already gathered £4,000 of that target.

He will be one of 12 runners taking on the marathon in support of the charity, which supports 4,000 families across the country every year.

David said that he and Lesa will not forget the support it gave him.

He said: "We want to help in whatever way we can to raise money to help other families who find themselves in a similar situation to us and also increase awareness of the charity’s work and what it does to support families with sick children.”