Wayne Smith's young daughter, Esmé, was diagnosed with a Spinal condition that left her facing life in a wheelchair.
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00:00 So Wayne and Esme join me in the studio now.
00:03 Thank you both for joining us.
00:05 Really lovely to have you here.
00:07 Wayne, we'll start with you.
00:08 How's training going?
00:09 We can see a picture of you here with your wheels.
00:10 - Yeah, it's going very well.
00:12 It's very tough as expected.
00:14 Like we've taken on a big challenge
00:16 and yeah, the training has been very, very tough
00:20 as you'd imagine it would be.
00:21 But yeah, we're going strong.
00:23 We're now in the final part.
00:25 I'm up to 15 miles so far, like what I did last week.
00:28 And in the next two weeks, I've got two long ones left
00:32 and I'm either going to stick at 17 and a half miles
00:35 or I may go for 20.
00:37 I'm going to see how I feel a little bit closer.
00:40 But we're in the final part now.
00:42 - I mean, it's incredible.
00:42 I had a chance to go on one of these wheels.
00:45 It's a rugby league wheelchair that we're using.
00:47 Really hard.
00:48 And you don't kind of think it
00:50 until you get to sit in the seat
00:51 about how hard it is to push yourself on.
00:53 - I was exactly the same.
00:54 - Yeah, what was it like when you first sat in the chair?
00:56 - I thought, what on earth have you let yourself in for?
01:00 Like, thinking about doing the challenge
01:02 and everything like that is a lot easier.
01:04 Like, say, yeah, I'll do that.
01:05 Like what I said, I'll go for it.
01:07 And I remember the first training session
01:09 going along the towpath thinking,
01:10 what on earth have you let yourself in for here?
01:13 But now we're here and we're close.
01:15 So we're very close now.
01:17 So it's been very difficult, but it's been good.
01:20 Like, I've now got the knack of it.
01:21 So we're getting there. - Yeah, of course.
01:22 Of course.
01:23 And you chose to do this, obviously,
01:25 because of Esme, who's here with us in the studio.
01:29 She's restricted to a wheelchair in her life.
01:31 You decided to take that on.
01:32 Have you been kind of, I mean,
01:34 we've got a brilliant video,
01:35 which we can play from your social media
01:36 of you two being together.
01:38 Have you had to kind of learn some stuff from her?
01:39 - Yeah, yeah, I've been watching you, haven't I?
01:41 Yeah, you've taught Daddy how to do the wheels, haven't you?
01:44 And your wheelies, the way that you fly up and down
01:46 around the house, don't you, and your wheelies.
01:48 And Daddy's been learning from you, hasn't he?
01:51 - Yeah, that's what we're gonna get.
01:53 - Yeah, of course.
01:55 And of course, Demelza, the charity,
01:57 you're doing this all for.
01:59 They've been quite instrumental in the whole journey.
02:01 - Yeah, that's it.
02:02 And since Esme was diagnosed
02:04 with spinal muscular atrophy at 18 months,
02:06 this is SMA type two, and ever since day one,
02:09 Demelza have been absolutely incredible.
02:12 They provide, before you use their service,
02:15 you don't know too much about what they do.
02:18 You just think it's a Demelza Children's Hospice,
02:20 but there's so much more.
02:22 And they've done so much for us.
02:24 Like they provide so many events,
02:27 Easter, Christmas, for all the families.
02:29 They have so much support for families
02:32 with children with disabilities
02:34 that are very sick as well, obviously.
02:37 But they do their events.
02:38 We've had use of their hydro pool.
02:41 They've got their physio that they've given to Esme as well.
02:46 And they do respite as well,
02:47 where we have someone come round once a month
02:49 and gives Emma a little break.
02:53 But it also allows more time to do some one-to-one stuff
02:56 with our son, Archie, because as you can imagine,
02:58 living with a child with a disability, it's 24/7.
03:01 So it's very challenging.
03:03 But what they do for us is absolutely brilliant.
03:06 So this is my way of saying thank you
03:08 and giving back and trying to raise
03:10 as much money as possible for them.
03:11 - Yeah, of course, you mentioned Archie there.
03:12 We can see him on the screen there,
03:13 all three of you with your wheels,
03:16 smiling greatly there.
03:17 - That was on my first half marathon,
03:19 they came and filmed me and they made some little flags
03:23 off of wooden spoons and bits of paper saying,
03:25 "Go, Daddy," and they filmed me at halfway.
03:27 - Oh, fantastic.
03:28 They'll have to do an even bigger one
03:29 for when we reach London, of course.
03:32 Talk to me, what's been the reaction from your family
03:35 and the kind of wider community?
03:38 I know you do a lot with boxing groups
03:40 around Chatham and Kent.
03:42 What's been the reaction?
03:43 - Just that I'm mad, basically.
03:47 Just that everyone's saying,
03:48 "You're absolutely bonkers for doing this,"
03:51 but that's what it's about.
03:53 I think it's 50,000-odd people running that London marathon
03:58 or 35,000, I can't remember what they said.
04:01 But for someone, I'm able-bodied, obviously,
04:04 but I have had two hip replacements,
04:05 so I could never run it even if I wanted to.
04:08 But just to do it in there,
04:10 it's going to be something extraordinary, isn't it?
04:12 So that's it, and that's what gives you the challenge
04:15 to go out and raise as much money as possible.
04:18 - Now, of course, and I mentioned
04:19 you're a boxing coach as well there.
04:22 Is there any kind of transferable skills
04:24 that you've learned about the kind of training for this?
04:26 - Yeah, yeah, definitely.
04:27 Like periodization of the training plan.
04:30 So I created my training plan,
04:32 and I'm bringing myself up,
04:33 as well as then the taper that's coming
04:35 in the last two weeks and stuff like that.
04:38 So I've been following my training plan that I set.
04:41 So having that good knowledge has helped me
04:44 and really helped the training.
04:46 So it's getting me along the way.
04:48 - And you're really active on your social media
04:50 and your Instagram, sharing this story as you go as well.
04:52 And that's where people can go to see some great videos,
04:54 some great pictures of you,
04:55 but also follow your fundraising journey too.
04:58 Can we expect a kind of Rocky-style montage
05:01 in the near future?
05:03 - That would be good, that would be good.
05:05 Luckily, I've got a videographer
05:07 that's been helping me out with some videos.
05:09 So that's a very good,
05:11 we should really lay onto that a little bit more.
05:13 - Yeah, definitely.
05:14 - No, brilliant.
05:15 You've just crossed the 7,000 pound mark,
05:18 aiming for 10,000.
05:20 Clearly quite a big response
05:22 from people wanting to help you out.
05:23 - That's right, yeah.
05:24 I'm absolutely amazed.
05:26 Like literally, we had to raise 2,000 pounds
05:31 to be at the start line,
05:32 and I reached out and I'm very lucky.
05:34 I've got all of these companies here that are on my jumper
05:37 that reached straight out, straight away
05:40 to do company sponsorship
05:41 that helped me get straight over the line.
05:43 So I raised the 2,000 pound fairly quickly
05:46 so that we were definitely at the line
05:48 and it was like, oh right,
05:49 we're definitely doing this then, that kind of moment.
05:52 And now, as you see it start growing,
05:54 it's like, let's go for 10.
05:56 Like we've got to do,
05:57 if we can get 10,000 pound for this charity
06:00 from little old me doing 26 miles in a wheelchair,
06:04 then let's do it.
06:05 So I can't thank everyone enough that's supporting it.
06:08 - Thank you so much, Wayne, for joining us today
06:10 and best of luck with the journey ahead of you.
06:12 - Brilliant, thank you very much.