After his father died from Covid-19 near the start of the pandemic, a man hopes to run the equivalent of the lives lost from the virus.
Kieran Theivam, an FA communications person who lives in Watford, explained his father was one of the 152,606 people who died with Covid-19 on their death certificate.
As of June 30, the Covid-19 death toll within 28 days of testing positive has been 128,140.
After a year since his father was cremated, he says the death figures are a “stark reminder” of the devastating impact caused by the pandemic and he will run 153km to mark the 153,000 death figure.
His father, Raj Theivam, was 67 and retired with no underlying health issues when he contracted the virus and died shortly afterwards.
Over the years the Theivam family have had a lot of involvement with Watford’s Peace Hospice Care, with his father working as a volunteer driver who picked up patients.
Mr Theivam described his father as a “selfless” individual and a “big Watford fan”, who had the smile that could “bring people in”.
Talking about the significance of the Covid death figure, he said: “He was an individual with a story and a life. There is an individual in the lives that were lost.”
He said: “We never wanted to be bitter, obviously it was devastating to lose him in the circumstances that we did, and obviously it has been a difficult 15 months since he passed, but we also recognise there’s a lot of people that went through really difficult times.
“There’s almost 153,000 lives lost in the UK, but also businesses have been lost, jobs have been lost, that ability to just give somebody a hug for such a while, we wanted to remember those lives lost, but recognise the individuals who lost other things.”
Mr Theivam, along with his brother and friends, will take part in the 153km challenge throughout July to raise money for both Peace Hospice Care and mental health charity Mind - as he notes that mental health has been impacted due to lockdown restrictions.
This is not the first time the family has set out to raise money, after collecting around £5,000 for Peace Hospice Care in memory of his father's work.
The goal is to finish the 153km journey by July 31, with around 5km a day.
To help the fundraising challenge, visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RunForTheLost/1
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