The following is from Starship's Official site and in part it reads:
Starship Foundation CEO Andrew Young is pounding the streets for Starship kids - but this year, he's doing it in New York.
Andrew, a Mt Eden father of three, is taking part in the New York Marathon on 1st November - and he is asking friends, family and Starship supporters to donate to his marathon effort by sponsoring his run at www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ayoung.
"It's my very public mid-life crisis," says Andrew. "I figure if I'm going to attempt my first marathon in honour of Starship, it might as well be in the Big Apple to be witnessed by millions of encouraging onlookers."
Andrew will be running with friend and Starship supporter Vikki Maclean (see www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/.vikkimaclean). Starship is dear to Vikki, a mother of two from Remuera. When she was pregnant with her first son Angus, she contracted Rhesus disease - and this had a knock on effect with subsequent pregnancies. When she was pregnant with her second son Ollie, he was at risk of dying in the womb, so his first blood transfusion was before he was even born when Vikki was 30 weeks pregnant. He was induced at 32 weeks after a second blood transfusion and had a series of blood transfusions for a year after that. All this happened when Vikki was living in Scotland. But five years ago, she moved to New Zealand and quickly learned that Starship Hospital performs these sorts of lifesaving procedures every day.
"I was a complete basket case during that year and I have a lot of people to thank for their support, kindness and friendship. It was a difficult journey and many parents have tougher journeys than ours to travel," says Vikki. "Ollie is now a happy, healthy and determined 11 year-old. We couldn't imagine our life without him and for every step of the marathon, I'll be thinking of him and all other children like him, whose lives depend on the expert care and services made possible at Starship."
Lucy Lawless, Starship Foundation ambassador and board trustee, has been joining Andrew and Vikki on some training runs to help keep their motivation and spirits high. She's also generously sponsored both Andrew and Vikki via their fundraiseonline web pages.
Lucy Lawless's fans have been generous too - and one donor in particular was motivated by the fact she had been born with a crippling illness and couldn't walk, let alone run, so was inspired by Andrew's efforts.