A FATHER who took up running after his wife miscarried with his first daughter has set his sights on the London Marathon.

Chris Hewitson lost his unborn baby daughter in 2014 but discovered running as a way to cope with the loss.

At the 12-week scan Chris and his wife Chan were told she would need to have an induced miscarriage.

In October 2014 they travelled to Great Western Hospital to say goodbye to the baby daughter they would never have.

Chris told the Adver: “It kind of broke us a little bit, all of a sudden to have that happen like that, it was a bit devastating.

“We were going through the perfect stage, we moved into a house, we got married, and the we found out my wife was pregnant.

“I didn’t do a lot of running before then and I started running because it helped me get away and process stuff.

"It’s quite a hard thing to talk about openly. I don’t think people like talking about miscarriage, so I found it quite hard to talk to anyone who had the same experience.

“Miscarriage in general is quite a taboo subject, nobody really talks about it.”

Chris got support through the Miscarriage Association at Great Western Hospital but found running was a way to escape and recover from the loss of his daughter they named Belle.

“The running on top of that really helped,” he added

In 2016 Chan gave birth to a healthy baby daughter, Paige, after what Chris said was a nervous wait with regular four-week check-ups.

He did the Reading Half Marathon in 2015 for the Miscarriage Association and the Swindon Half Marathon in 2017 for Swindon Sands, which supports families affected by the death of a baby, raising £413 for the charity.

For the London Marathon, on April 28, he is taking the opportunity to enter by raising money for Activity Alliance, which supports people with disabilities live active lifestyles.

Chris has already run around 150 miles since starting his training in January, and has the added challenge of type 1 diabetes and suffers from coeliac disease, meaning he can't eat wheat.

To donate to his fundraising page, which has raised more than £400, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-hewitson4?utm_id=121