Half-marathon in memory of Aaron

A BRAVE fund-raiser will tackle the Great North Run later on Sunday in memory of his step-son who died from a rare epilepsy-related condition.

Simon Howard, of Shaw, will run the world’s biggest half-marathon with friends of Aaron Ashforth who died last year from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). He was only 21.

Aaron, a former Royton and Crompton School pupil, was found dead at the home he shared with student friends in Preston. He was studying forensic computing at the University of Central Lancashire.

Now Simon, will join 142 other runners, among the 54,000 participants, to raise money for Epilepsy Research UK at the event in Gateshead. Simon and a group of Aaron’s friends ran the Silverstone half-marathon in March, raising more than £2,000 for The David Lewis Centre at Alderley Edge which cares for those with severe needs caused by epilepsy and other neurological problems. They hope to raise a similar amount on Sunday.

Epilepsy Research UK is the only national organisation exclusively dedicated to funding research into all areas of epilepsy.

To sponsor Simon, visit www.justgiving.com/showardgreatnorthrun