A mother-of-two from Caersws, Powys, will be taking on the 2026 Cardiff Half Marathon to raise money for the Welsh Air Ambulance after the charity saved her son.
Zoe Rees, 32, said her son Llew was just seven hours old when he suffered a seizure and needed to be rushed to hospital via helicopter in October 2020.
Llew is now five and Zoe says if it wasn’t for the air ambulance’s quick response, he may not be here today. That’s why she wants to give back to the charity by fundraising for them at this year’s race.
Zoe, who runs a caravan site with her husband Peter, said: “Everything was fine during my pregnancy with Llew but I had a little bit of difficulty during labour at hospital in Aberystwyth.
“He was just seven hours old when I was breastfeeding on the ward and he started to have a seizure on me. He needed to be airlifted to Singleton hospital where he then had a further two seizures.”
They later found out that the seizures were due to a lack of oxygen during Llew’s birth.
Zoe, who also has a three-year-old daughter, Eliza, added: “It was really scary and I wasn’t able to go into the ambulance with Llew. It was horrific watching him being taken away, however the ambulance crew were so incredible and gave so much reassurance.”
At Singleton Hospital, Llew was put into the neonatal intensive care unit before having an MRI scan when he was just three days old. The scan revealed he had mild to high scarring on his brain and Zoe and Peter were told he only had a 20% chance of walking, talking or sitting up.
Zoe said: “We’d just moved into a new house the week before and we started thinking the worst – how will he walk up the stairs, will he ever get to play football?
“The motor side of his brain had been affected by the lack of oxygen and doctors said there would be a high chance of him having epilepsy. While the chances of him being able to walk, talk and sit were slim, we wouldn’t be able to see the true impact until Llew turned two after needing to hit his milestones, so we began intense physio.
“We found ourselves wishing he was two when he was born, just so we could know what life would be like for him.”
Incredibly, despite what doctors had said, Llew started hitting all his milestones – clapping, laughing, crawling and then walking.
Zoe said: “Llew’s hit every one of his milestones – it’s absolutely insane. We live in such a rural area, so time really was so precious. However, he was in the air ambulance so quickly that they saved him and his quality of life too.
“We were devastated to think that sport might be taken away from him, so we always had it in the back of our minds that if Llew could ever walk it would be a sign to run the Cardiff Half Marathon to raise money.
“It’s taken a long time for us to feel strong enough to talk about what happened, but Llew is so active and loves running. We really do owe everything to the air ambulance. It’s not just a helicopter, but it’s the staff that work there as well. They’re incredible. When Llew got taken away we were given a blanket with a helicopter on it as well as a certificate for his first flight. They try and turn something that is quite traumatic into something more positive, and it means we’ve had these things to talk to Llew about what happened to him too.”
Zoe will be taking part in the Cardiff Half alongside her husband, two sisters and her dad, who will also be fundraising for the charity.
She added: “Running was never a sport we took part in, so training for the half has opened up a whole world for us all. Peter and I now have date nights running and on Boxing Day the whole family went out for a run – it’s changed our lifestyle and is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Matt Newman, Chief Executive at event organisers Run 4 Wales, said: “All of our runners have such special and personal reasons for lining up on the start line and we’re always inspired to hear of their motivations- whether it’s raising money for incredible charities or chasing down a personal best. We wish Zoe and her family the best of luck with the rest of their training and look forward to cheering them around the course on race day.”
For more information about the Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday 4 October visit: cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk/ or to donate to Zoe’s fundraising page visit: cardiffhalf26.enthuse.com/pf/peter-rees
