Graham Muir to take on Great Scottish Run for CDH UK

Graham Muir's son Louis was born around the same time as his friends Ross and Carla Lundy had a baby boy, Dawson.

But Dawson was born a very rare condition, called congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or CDH, and from birth was fighting for his life.

Doctors at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow once described Dawson as "the sickest baby in Scotland" as he fought for his life from birth.

Carla described what she and her husband, who both from the Three Towns, and Dawson himself - now aged six - went through at that time, to our sister paper The Glasgow Times.

Graham Muir will tackle the Great Scottish Run in October

She said: "When Dawson was born, he was taken away from us immediately, and we didn’t get to see him for hours.

“When we did finally see him, he was in intensive care. After that, we just went from hour to hour, waiting for the doctors to give us news, knowing that anything could change at any minute.

"The next day he was baptised and given the last rites. It was touch and go."

With his situation changing from day to day, the couple were given a room in Ronald McDonald House, which provides free accommodation to families whose child is being treated at the hospital next door, allowing parents and siblings to stay close to children who are critically ill in hospital. 

Graham Muir will take on the run for Carla and Ross Lundy and their son Dawson

Altogether, the couple spent 100 nights in the house.

Slowly but surely, Dawson began to get better, to the point he was eventually well enough to get home. The young family still had other trips back to hospital, but now, Dawson is a fit and fun-loving young boy.

He now even has his very own deckchair at Ardrossan beach, as a lasting sign of what a fighter he is.

Now Graham Muir, a close friend of the family and former teammate of Ross's at Largs Thistle FC, wants to help raise awareness of the illness which affected Dawson's life so much.

Dawson with his South Beach deckchair

He will be taking on the Glasgow half marathon as part of the Great Sottish Run on Sunday, October 2, raising money for CDH UK in the process.

Also a keen darts player, 'Yaya Muiry', as he is often known, will also be raising money through the Kilwinning Darts Premier League.

They will be hosting a fund-rasing night themselves, and have Graham's half marathon fundraiser up on the wall at their home in the Blacklands Bowling Club in Kilwinning.

With a little more than a month to go, Graham, who is well known by Ayrshire football supporters from his days playing for junior clubs in the area until he hung up his boots last season, says he knows he'll need to work hard to complete the challenge in a good time.

"I'm properly training now," he said, "although I don't have my football fitness and 90 minutes usually on the Saturday to fall back on."

Famous for his fitness right through to the latter stages of his career, Graham's competitive spirit means he is keen to beat his last half marathon time from four years ago - of one hour 26 minutes.

He also knows what the real goal is, though, adding: "I am running it to try and raise as much money as I can for CDH UK.

"The miracle that is Dawson Lundy is fighting fit. Now please donate to raise awareness for an amazing cause."