A marathon effort for son Zach
Father of four, Marlon Hodges, is running in the London Marathan to raise money for the Royal National Insitutute for the Deaf (RNID). He has chosen this charity because they have given vital support to his profoundly deaf three year old son Zach.
Zach's deafness was caused when his mother, Louise, contrated the cytomegalovirus when was pregnant. Due to various other complications, Marlon and Louise didn't find out Zach was deaf for three months, and it came as a dreadful shock.
During this time Marlon, who is a custody officer for Thames Valley Police, said that the RNID helped a great deal by giving them lots of information, so when he decided to run the London marathan, he thought it would be a great idea to raise some money for them.
Soon after Zach's diagnosis, he was first fitted with hearing aids, then gromits, but when neither of these worked, he was recommended to receive a cochlear implant in April last year.
After initial problems, Zach is now making some progress - "his brother called from upstairs the other day and Zach pointed to the sound, which was great to see, " said Marlon.
So far, Marlon is close to reaching his target of £1,500 and if you would like to sponsor him visit www.justgiving.com/marlonhodges
