Pouya Akhbari (pictured), a locum trauma and orthopaedic consultant at our Trust, completed the London Marathon on Sunday 21 April to raise funds for King George and Queen’s Hospitals Charity.

Pouya, who has worked at our Trust since 2021, fundraised for his Orthopaedic department. He decided to run in the marathon after a cycling accident last year which left him with a broken shoulder.

He said: “I was sitting at home watching the marathon on TV, feeling sorry for myself as I was not able to exercise at the time. I decided to enter the marathon ballot and three months later I found out I was successful. Having never been a serious runner, this was very daunting, and I did not know if I would be able to go the distance.”

Pouya surpassed his £2,000 goal, raising almost £3,000 when gift aid is added to his JustGiving total, and he is still collecting funds.

While talking about how he chose to run for our charity, he added: “I felt it was important to raise money for charity, and what better cause than our Trust’s own dedicated hospital’s charity.”

Pouya started training for the marathon in January this year, with a short four mile run, adding two miles every week.

He completed the 26.2 mile run in 3hrs 57mins, beating his target goal of 4hrs. Pouya added: “It was a challenging day. I ran as fast as I could, as hard as I could for as long as I could. I was not sure if I could finish but life is all about overcoming challenges. I did not give up and won the mental battle in my head. I saw others stop and a few people crying, but I refused to give up. I pushed on as best as I could.”

If you would like to support Pouya, visit his JustGiving fundraising page.