Limbless British and Ukrainian veterans have joined forces to take on the London Marathon.
Two Ukrainian Marines injured in the fight against Russia met five members of Blesma, the limbless veterans charity, to share their experiences and commit to helping each other recover.
Oleksii Rudenko, 28, and Heorhii Roshka, 32, will line up with former 3 Para Stuart Pearson, who lost his left leg to an IED in Afghanistan, at Sunday’s event.
Oleksii, who lost a leg defusing mines, said: “We are not running just for ourselves but for Ukraine to show we are unbreakable. Blesma understand what we’re going through. We feel like a family.”
The pair met Hari Budha Magar, a former Royal Gurkha Rifle and the first double above-knee amputee to climb Everest. Heorhii, injured in Mariupol, said: “It’s incredible to learn from them.”
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Stuart, of Colchester, Essex, who lost a leg in Afghanistan, said: “We’re further down the road with our injuries so our knowledge can help them.”
Double amputee Darren Swift, an ex-Royal Green Jacket, said: “They have a lot to cope with but are tough.”
Blesma is helping Ukraine deal with around 60,000 limbless war casualties.
Left to Right: Darren Swift, Colin Branch, Wali Noori (all Blesma) Oleksii Rudenko, Slava Kulakovski, Heorhii Roshka, Stuart Pearson and Hari Budha MagarMeanwhile, London Marathon organisers plan to pay tribute to the late Kelvin Kiptum on Sunday with 30 seconds of applause ahead of the elite male race.
Kiptum won last year’s event and months later became the first man to run the marathon under two hours and one minute in Chicago.
The death of the Kenyan long-distance runner in a car accident in February at the age of 24 sent shockwaves through the sport and he will be remembered before Sunday’s race, which he won on three occasions and with a record time of two hours, one minute and 25 seconds in 2023.
“We will be having a tribute to him on the start line for what he did in the incredible short time he was in our sport,” London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher said of Kiptum. “Three wins out of three events, he was our course record holder and he then became the world record holder in Chicago.
“It will be 30 seconds of applause. We want to celebrate the man. There will be a VT (video tape) played and we will be doing this in conjunction with the BBC in terms of what they’ll be doing. There will be some words that Geoff Whiteman will speak just to remind people and celebrate his short but impactful life.”
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