'Why I carried my son over race's finishing line'

A father who carried his toddler over the finish line in a heartwarming end to his half marathon has spoken of the tragedy behind the gesture.

Michael, 36, earned applause and brought tears to the eyes of spectators as he ended the Liverpool Half Marathon with his son Leo, who is nearly two, in his arms.

He said he had begun running four years ago after the death of his baby boy, so he was "determined" to carry his brother Leo over the line.

Michael admitted after 13 miles it was a challenge to carry him but everyone was cheering them on which helped him complete the race.

"I had planned that my mum would hand Leo to me near the end of the run but I didn't realise how far away from the finishing line I was," he said.

"I had to put him down for a while but he was loving it and people were waving to him and cheering and I made one more effort at the finishing line."

In 2021, Michael and his wife, who are from Liverpool, were devastated to lose their baby boy after 23 weeks of pregnancy.

"It was classed as a miscarriage, one more week later and it would have been described as stillborn but the pain was still the same," he said.

The grieving couple received counselling from LoveJasmine, a Liverpool charity set up in 2016 by a couple who had lost their young daughter.

"I didn't think I needed counselling but it helped my wife and I a lot which is why I ran my first half marathon to raise money for the charity," Michael said.

"When I run I wear their T-shirt even if I'm not actually raising money for them as I want to highlight their work."

He added: "It meant a lot to carry Leo over the line after losing our first child.

"I started running because we lost one son four years ago and I was determined to carry Leo over the line."

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