Aaron Mclaughlin, from Essex, will be running the London Marathon in memory of his brother Kirk, a veteran who committed suicide in 2017, and to raise funds for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity…
Aaron has set himself an ambitious fundraising target of £2,000 for SSAFA but has already exceeded his target with generous donations from friends, family and the public. Aaron said:
“My brother served in the third battalion in the Parachute Regiment and completed tours in Afghanistan. He was my hero, I always looked up to him. Unfortunately, my brother suffered an injury during a jump, as well as suffering from mental health issues, and was medically discharged from the army. He became depressed and struggled to find purpose.
“SSAFA was there when he needed them the most. They funded courses for him and helped him buy furniture for his flat, including a bed and a cooker. They were really good to him. Before he committed suicide, we’d talked about running the marathon together. But Kirk’s injury meant that he wouldn’t be able to run. I knew then that I wanted to run the marathon for him.”
Unfortunately, Kirk Mclaughlin committed suicide on 21 November 2017 after a battle with mental health problems, including PTSD. Since then, Aaron has used running as a way to deal with the loss of his brother.
“Running the marathon is just a little something to give back to SSAFA. They are an amazing charity who helped my brother in his time of need. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to have some of the precious time and memories I did have with my brother.”
Aaron will be running the London Marathon on Sunday 28 April 2019. You can support him and SSAFA here.
