Heathfield father runs Brighton Marathon in memory of three-year-old daughter to raise funds for Aquamovers in Mid Sussex

Matt Vince, a 31-year-old construction worker from Heathfield, aims to raise £15,000 for Aquamovers, who provide therapy and socialising for severely disabled children aged one to five at Chailey Heritage Foundation.

Luna-Rose Vince was born in 2019 with Global Development Delay, a rare genetic condition that meant she was immobile, non-verbal and had epileptic seizures.

Matt said: “I am taking part with two old school friends of mine, Hugo Porpora and Leon Collen. I hate running but I will crawl if I have to just to get over the finishing line. My brother Joel said he would also run the Marathon if our fundraising target hit £10,000.”

Around £5,000 was donated to Matt’s JustGiving fundraising page in the first 12 hours and the current amount has passed £10,300.

Matt said the most running he has ever done is ‘just four miles’ but he is determined to ‘turn a big, big negative into a positive’ on April 2. “Luna-Rose wouldn’t want us to be just moping around,” he added.

Mother Sam Poulton, 33, said Luna-Rose was ‘the most beautiful little angel’ and said Aquamovers provided valuable support for the family.

She said: “She loved life and she smiled all the time. We never thought her condition was life-threatening at such an early stage in her life, so when she died, we were obviously in total shock. She was absolutely fine the night before but on October 6, 2022, her heart stopped beating in her sleep.”

Sam said she had given up work to care for her daughter, which she struggled with, but she said Aquamovers ‘made a complete difference’.

She said: “Going there helped me accept what had happened, that we had a child who was severely disabled. I think I had been in denial before that. Aquamovers meant I could talk to other parents in similar situations. The hydrotherapy pool there is amazing. After the class session, we would head over to the pool for a 30-minute hydrotherapy session. The specialist equipment, movement and advice lets the children move around independently in the water and creates strength, which helps massively with their physio.”

Matt said: “Please donate if you can. We know how much Aquamovers means to children and the families who attend the group. Luna-Rose was our ray of sunshine. We believe that she came into this world to make people appreciate life.”

Matt takes part in Crossfit workouts at FFH Gym in Hailsham and after the Marathon, he plans to take on The Three Peaks Challenge for charity.

Will Folkes, head of fundraising at Chailey Heritage Foundation, said: “As a charity, we are thrilled that Aquamovers played such an important part in the lives of Luna-Rose, Matt and Sam.”

He said: “We were, of course, devastated to hear that she had died and we are very grateful to the family now for their fundraising efforts.”

To sponsor Matt visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lunarose. To find out more about Aquamovers visit www.chf.org.uk/aquamovers.html.