Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen Dad to run marathon in memory of young daughter

Sophie Willox
Sophie Willox

The father of a young girl who died suddenly in her sleep is to run a marathon in her memory – on what would have been his daughter’s sixth birthday.

Russell Willox will take part in the Edinburgh Marathon on May 31 in tribute to his girl Sophie, who died in December last year.

Mr Willox said the event will allow him to mark the special day while raising money for an Aberdeen charity which is very close to his family’s heart.

He hopes to raise £2,000 for Voluntary Service Aberdeen which helps his son Milo, seven, who has autism, take part in their summer holiday playscheme every year.

Mr Willox, said he wanted to do “something positive” for his girl and to make her proud as he embarks on his first marathon.

Mr Willox, 38, who lives in the Mannofield area with his partner Kate, is now training five times a week.

He said: “I had originally signed up for the Loch Ness marathon to give me something to focus on but then I kept coming back to the Edinburgh one and the fact it was on Sophie’s birthday.

“I looked down the charity list and when I saw VSA was there, I knew I wanted to do it.

“We just didn’t know what to do for Sophie’s birthday. We wanted to celebrate it but didn’t know how.

“When I spoke to Kate, we both knew it was the right idea, a nice idea.”

Sophie died on December 5, with Mr Willox finding his daughter in bed after tucking her in the night before.

The five-year-old had been born with disabilities but had been making good progress at the time she died, with tests ongoing to establish the cause of her sudden death.

So far, the family has helped to raise around £5,000 for new iPads for Aberdeen’s Hazlewood special school, where she was a pupil.

Mr Willox, an IT analyst for ConocoPhillips, said he was pleased to be supporting VSA given the difference it had made to his son’s life.

He added: “They do a playscheme there and Milo absolutely loves it. They take great care of him.

“They do lovely things for the parents, like a little booklet of all the memories Milo would have from taking part.

“Because of his autism, he can’t tell us himself. But we have so many nice pictures from VSA of him running about, chasing chickens and so on.

“We had already started to speak to VSA about Sophie taking part. It is an organisation very close to my heart.”

Debbie Fotheringham, events and fundraising co-ordinator at VSA, said the organisation was “delighted” about Mr Willox’s fundraising efforts.

She added: “We were touched to learn that the marathon day will have so many sentimental meanings to the Willox family.

“Russell is an inspirational family man and we will certainly be doing everything we can to support him during his fundraising journey.

“Along with myself, I am sure everyone who reads his story will be moved by what a truly great achievement this will be and what it will mean to his family and friends.”

To donate to Mr Willox’s marathon effort, please visit

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RussellWillox

for more information.