'Heartbreaking' stroke leads to family fundraising for Inverness charity footballer
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A family who have been kept hundreds of miles apart after a devastating stroke are fundraising for a national charity.
When Kevin Button’s brother-in-law suffered a stroke last year, Covid-19 travel and mixing restrictions kept his family far from his Raigmore Hospital bedside.
Mr Button lives with his wife Nicci in Tonyrefail, South Wales, while her brother Chris Darch is more than 560 miles away in Inverness.
Mr Darch (46) is originally from Cardiff but has lived in Inverness for more than 20 years with his wife Sharon and their children, Cieran and Emily.
The stroke, that happened shortly after he played in charity football match, seriously affected his left-hand – but he has shown great signs of improvement in recent weeks.
Determined to help aid his brother in laws recovery, Mr Button signed up to run in the Newport marathon, just a few miles from his home in the Rhondda, and help raise vital funds for leading Scottish health charity, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS).
And even its rearrangement from the original race date of April 18 hasn’t deterred the 35-year-old.
Instead of joining thousands of others on the streets of the South Wales town in October, he will run the 26 miles and 385 yards of the marathon virtually in nearby Cardiff on April 18.
Mr Button, who works in a builder’s merchant, says: “Chris suffered a stroke just before Christmas last year after playing in a charity football match. He’s been in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness ever since, although he’s hoping to get home in the next couple of weeks.
“We feel very helpless because we haven’t been able to go up there to see him or do anything for him and his family. His own family couldn’t spend Christmas with him and because of restrictions since January, they are not even allowed in the hospital. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
“I wanted to do something to raise awareness about stroke, and CHSS seemed the ideal charity for people like Chris because you will be crucial to his recovery.
“The Newport marathon has been rearranged because of Covid–19, but I decided to run the marathon on April 18 anyway. Hopefully Chris will be out of hospital by then and can cheer me on from Inverness.”
The marathon on April 18 will be his first attempt at this distance, although he has run a half-marathon before. Right now he’s focusing on his training regime and taking time away from his other passion, raising awareness of the issue of male infertility, which has sadly affected Kevin and Nicci.
Mr Button had set an initial target of £250 but has already smashed past that to have a current total of £1,255 in donations for CHSS.
Megan McFarlane, fundraiser at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “This is an incredibly heartfelt challenge that Kevin is taking on for his brother in law Chris and his family, we are delighted to be a part of it.
“It’s people like Kevin, who take on these amazing challenges, that make an enormous difference to those living with chest, heart and stroke conditions.
“The money raised from Kevin’s marathon will ensure that people like Chris and his family get the right help and support when they need it most. Thank you to everyone who has supported him already. Your efforts will make sure that people can do more than survive.”
To support Mr Button's fundraising visit his donation page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kevin-button15
Read: Son completes solo Culloden Inverness marathon for dad
