On 26th April 2026, a remarkable group of runners will take on one of the world’s most iconic sporting events—the TCS London Marathon—wearing the colours of Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK.
For our team, each of those 26.2 miles carries deeper meaning. These aren’t just runners chasing a personal best; they’re people whose lives have been touched by cardiac arrest—survivors, family members, and friends who’ve witnessed first-hand why CPR and defibrillators matter. Every stride represents gratitude, remembrance, and a determination to ensure that survivors and their families never have to face this journey alone.
We’re immensely proud to introduce our marathon team.
Meet Our Runners
Robyn Dwyer
Robyn is running for her dad.
In 2024, her father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. SCA UK helped him understand what had happened and how his life would change. Robyn watched his recovery journey with pride—including his return to running and his work helping others at his local Couch to 5K group.
It feels fitting, then, that Robyn is now lacing up her own running shoes to support the charity that supported her family. She’s delighted to run in aid of an organisation that has helped her dad and so many others navigate the road to recovery.
Support Robyn: Donate to Robyn’s fundraising page
Nick Thomas
The day that changed everything for Nick was 10th August 2023. Generally fit, active, and playing football with his dad’s team as usual, Nick collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Thanks to the quick actions of those around him—a firefighter, a police officer, and a flight attendant who happened to be there—his life was saved. Effective CPR and a defibrillator did exactly what they’re supposed to do.
Nick was only “out” for 15 minutes. He returned to football three months later and has played ever since.
Since then, Nick has made it his mission to spread the word about how CPR really can save lives. He ran the Oxford Half Marathon in 2024 and again in 2025—as the back end of an alpaca, no less. As a working GP, he juggles the demands of his career with the support of his wife Judith and their three sons.
Being able to run the London Marathon is, in Nick’s words, “an incredible achievement”—and he’s not just running it. He’s attempting to set a world record while he’s at it.
Support Nick: Donate to Nick’s fundraising page
Josce Syrett
Josce isn’t just running the London Marathon. He’s running the Manchester Marathon, then cycling over 400km from Manchester to London, then running the London Marathon the very next weekend. That’s 500km in 8 days.
Why? Because his dad, Trevor, suffered a cardiac arrest at home. Thanks to a nearby defibrillator, quick CPR, and the incredible work of the Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon, Trevor survived—something that sadly happens for fewer than 1 in 10 people who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
What Josce didn’t expect was the impact it would have on him personally. After performing CPR on his own father, he struggled badly—isolating himself from family, avoiding going home, and ending up in hospital with panic attacks. With the help of therapy and by reading the stories of others who had been through similar experiences, he began to find a way forward.
That’s why SCA UK means so much to Josce. The charity supports people like him—the co-survivors—as well as the survivors themselves, helping them cope with the emotional and psychological aftermath of such a traumatic event.
Support Josce: Donate to Josce’s fundraising page
Phil Richards
After 10 or 11 unsuccessful ballot applications, Phil has finally secured his place at the London Marathon—and he’s running it for SCA UK.
At 17 days shy of his 58th birthday on race day, Phil admits he’s “old enough to know better but still daft enough to accept a great challenge like this.”
Phil’s connection to cardiac arrest is close to home—quite literally within the SCA UK family. His good friend Stuart Menzies, now an SCA UK trustee, performed CPR on his wife Susan when she collapsed while they were doing routine shopping. Had it not been for Stuart’s immediate intervention, Susan wouldn’t have survived. Witnessing their journey—and knowing how close it came—inspired Phil to dedicate his long-awaited marathon place to raising funds for survivors and their families.
Support Phil: Donate to Phil’s fundraising page
Behind the Team
Our runners aren’t doing this alone. Behind the scenes, two dedicated volunteers are keeping Team SCA UK on track.
Joanna Balgarnie, SCA UK trustee and cardiac arrest survivor, is our marathon team organiser. Joanna knows first-hand the power of peer support—her own connection with fellow survivors at an early SCA UK meet-up was, in her words, life-changing. She’s channelling that same energy into supporting our runners through their fundraising and preparation.
Tracy Swindell, co-survivor and lifesaver, is our running adviser. Tracy brings extensive long-distance running experience to the team, offering practical guidance and encouragement to help our runners reach that finish line on The Mall. She’s proof that the SCA UK community extends far beyond survivors themselves—the people who perform CPR and stand by their loved ones through recovery are just as much a part of our family.
Proudly Sponsored by Defib Machines
We’re delighted to announce that Defib Machines is the official sponsor of Team SCA UK at the 2026 TCS London Marathon.
Our runners will proudly wear the Defib Machines name on their running tops as they tackle those legendary 26.2 miles through the streets of London.
Founded in 2016, Defib Machines has become one of the UK’s leading providers of fully serviced automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Their mission—making life-saving defibrillators accessible to everyone—aligns perfectly with our own work supporting the cardiac arrest community. As Nick’s story shows, a defibrillator in the right place at the right time can mean the difference between life and death.
We’re deeply grateful to Jonathan Gilbert and the team at Defib Machines for their generous support of our runners and our mission.
Why Your Donation Matters
Every year in the UK, there are almost 100,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Only around a third receive treatment from paramedics, and of those, fewer than 1 in 10 survive. But as our runners’ stories show, survival is only the beginning of the journey.
Survivors and their families often face a bewildering path of physical recovery, psychological challenges, and practical difficulties—frequently with little structured support. And as Josce’s story reminds us, it’s not just survivors who need help; the people who perform CPR—the co-survivors—can carry their own invisible scars.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK exists to ensure that no one affected by cardiac arrest has to navigate this journey alone. Your donations help us provide:
- Peer support through our community of over 4,000 members
- Vital information and resources for survivors and their families
- Regional meet-ups where survivors can connect face-to-face
- Our national conference bringing the cardiac arrest community together
- Educational content including our Life After Cardiac Arrest books, podcast, and SCA UK Live on YouTube
- Advocacy for better survivorship care across the NHS
As a small charity run entirely by volunteers, we rely solely on donations and fundraising to continue our work. A donation of just £10 can help fund support group meetings for survivors and co-survivors, giving people a safe space to share, process, and heal together.
When you sponsor one of our runners, you’re not just supporting their marathon—you’re helping us be there for the next survivor who needs us.
Support the Team
Each of our runners has committed to raising at least £2,000 for SCA UK. You can support them individually through their fundraising pages:
Or visit our donation page to support the charity directly.
Every donation, no matter the size, makes a real difference.
Follow Their Journey
Want to follow our runners as they train for the big day? Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates, training milestones, and race-day coverage.
On marathon day, we’ll be cheering our team every step of the way—and we hope you will too.
Interested in running for SCA UK at a future event? Find out more about our running programme or get in touch.