Woman runs London Marathon for hospital that helped her father survive Covid

A woman whose father fell into a coma on her birthday will be running the London Marathon for the hospital that nursed him back to health.

Nadine Brower, 44, from Tring, Hertfordshire told the PA news agency that all funds raised will go towards her father’s rehabilitation aftercare and the charity hospital, the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, in Putney south-west London.

So far, roughly £8,000 has been raised out of the £10,000 fundraising goal.

Ms Brower, a residential property owner, told the PA news agency that the hospital has “been amazing”.

She said: “They have been so supportive and I am so thankful.”

Ms Brower’s father, Eddie Brower, 73, went to hospital on January 13 with mild Covid symptoms.

She said: “His breathing capacity was very low, so they put him on oxygen and then on the 20th January, which is my birthday, they put him into a coma because his lung had collapsed.

“He was in a coma for three months. He started off in Whipps Cross and then he was moved to the Royal London which is Whitechapel in the ICU.

“When he came out of the coma, he was moved back to Whipps where they were assessing him to see what the damage was because of all the stuff he had happen to him.

“It actually took him two weeks to wake up from the coma because of all the drugs.”

Ms Brower said her father, who “would be at the David Lloyd every other day” and played tennis regularly, developed pneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis (swelling to the brain) and kidney failure.

However, he is now at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, in a wheelchair, and having rehabilitation to walk again and build up his muscles.

Ms Brower said: “[He is] now at a stage where he’s fully on the ball, his mind is perfect.

“It’s just the legs so we’re really blessed he’s completely fine.”

Mr Brower, a sales manager at Joypots, will be undergoing a six-hour operation next week to release the tendons behind the knees as they are locked, in the hope that he will be able to walk again.

Ms Brower added: “The hospital [will also be] double checking that there’s no underlying damage from the Covid before he has the general aesthetic.

“It has been the worst thing we have ever been through. We’re just so thankful that he’s got through.”

She said that her father and her stepmother, Hazel, are “so proud” of her running the marathon.

“Obviously, I’m doing it for dad as this is nothing compared to what he has been through.”

Ms Brower said that people from the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability are going to be present on the day of the race and her family will be shouting “Go Nads”.

Ms Brower has cited the Nike app as being the tool that has helped her during her runs, as well as her partner, Daryl, 55, who has a construction company, as he sometimes “comes out on the electric bike” behind her on the country roads.

Ms Brower’s GoFundMe can be found here.