Meet Ben Unsworth: Our London Marathon Runner for 2027
We’re incredibly excited to announce that Ben Unsworth will be running the London Marathon for SOFT UK in 2027.
For Ben, this isn’t simply a marathon. It’s another step in a journey of remembering his baby, raising awareness of Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), and turning his grief into something positive.
Ben and his family have a deeply personal connection to the work we do at SOFT UK. In 2019, Ben and his partner welcomed their baby, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and was born sleeping.
Below, Ben shares his story in his own words.
Ben’s story
In December 2018 we had the amazing news that we’d been waiting for, we were expecting our first baby. Due in August 2019, we knew we had a long road ahead but neither of us was prepared for what would come next.
Walking in to our 12 week scan, we were just the same as any other happy couple, full of nerves and excitement. After what seemed like an eternity, the sonographer told us that she needed a second opinion on what she deemed to be a hernia. After being told that the hernia could be linked to chromosome abnormalities, we were referred to fetal medicine in Southampton. After receiving our screening results back we were full of optimism as our test were not showing high risk at all.
As the pregnancy progressed, and we had regular scans to check the development of the hernia, we were amazed how quickly things deteriorated. They found numerous other abnormalities as the pregnancy went on and we were advised that all the signs pointed towards Trisomy 18, Edwards Syndrome.
We were given the opportunity to have an amniocentesis test, which would determine if this was the case. 2 days later we had the phone call that we were dreading; Baby Unsworth had trisomy 18 - Edwards syndrome. The days that followed this news were full of heart ache and somewhat of a blur, but in the early hours of March 22, 2019 Baby Unsworth was born sleeping.
In the time that’s passed since March 2019, I’ve used raising money as a way to remember baby unsworth and use my grief for good and this is another step in that journey. We’ve been lucky enough to have two lovely boys who will be there cheering me on and I hope you can all do the same in one way or another.
Thank you for your time.
Supporting Ben on his London Marathon journey
We’re so grateful to Ben for choosing to take on this incredible challenge in memory of Baby Unsworth and to support other families affected by Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18.
The London Marathon is one of the biggest challenges Ben has taken on, but his reason for doing it is bigger than the 26.2 miles. Every mile will be a tribute to Baby Unsworth and a way of helping Ben turn his grief into good.
We’ll be following Ben’s training and fundraising journey over the coming months and sharing updates along the way.
If you’d like to support Ben and SOFT UK, keep an eye on our social media channels for details of how you can get involved and donate.
We’ll be behind you every step of the way, Ben. 💙