A 28-time marathon runner carried the Paralympic torch this week, celebrating 40 years of service to the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.
A 28-time marathon runner carried the Paralympic torch this week, celebrating 40 years of service to the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Putney.
Catering Stock Keeper Lolo Leyenda, 64, ran his 28th and final marathon earlier this year for RHN, which has been working with disability since 1864.
“Running and the RHN are both huge parts of my life,” said Lolo.
“It’s an honour that I could do this for such a fantastic event which marked a milestone in the Paralympic Games.”
Long- time resident Deidre Tydd, who nominated Lolo as a torchbearer, said: “Lolo is one of the best fundraisers in the history of the hospital and the many, many thousands of pounds he has raised over the years has paid for lots of vital equipment.
“Lolo is very modest and unassuming, but he is a great friend to everyone at the hospital and really is a champion to all of us.”
Over the years the pair formed a charity ‘double act’ with Lolo doing the running and Deidre collecting sponsorship, raising close to £90,000.
Deirdre, who has very little movement below the neck and controls her wheelchair using only her chin, holds a Wandsworth Civic Award for outstanding fundraising work.
Lolo, who carried the torch along Wendover Road, Aylesbury on Tuesday evening, joined 580 other inspirational Torchbearers for the historic launch of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The 24 hour torch relay saw the flame being carried from Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympics, to the Olympic Park 92 miles away.
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