Healthcare worker to run London marathon for Cork University Maternity Hospital

A neo-natal expert who got his first pair of runners at the age of 18, is to run a marathon in aid of his maternity hospital.

Kannan Natchimuthu, 46, is gearing up for the gruelling 42km run, despite going without proper footwear until he entered third-level education.

Constantly overlooked for sporting teams in his youth, he transformed his life after arriving in Ireland in 2006 – and is now a tennis coach and an international umpire.

The Indian native will be joined by more than 30 others from Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUH and the broader community taking on the London City marathon on April 21.

Funds, channelled through CUH Charity, will be used to improve facilities at the neo-natal intensive care unit where he works, and at the ICU in CUH.

Kannan, a father of two teenagers from Midleton in Cork, was always relegated to the role of waterboy during cricket matches in his youth, but moving to Ireland changed everything.

He began borrowing bicycles to cycle in 50k road races and took up tennis - endlessly hitting a ball against the wall of an underground car park to hone his skills.

“Back in India, I never ran before, I was never involved in sports in school or college,” said the senior neonatal and paediatric occupational therapist.

“With the help of my uncle, I got my first runners at 18 – for us, it was only rich people buying shoes.

“I didn’t tell my parents, my mum was saying it was very expensive and a waste of money, that I didn’t need shoes.”

The trainers cost 600 rupees (around €7 at the time), considered a fortune which would have fed an entire family in their village of Seethappatty for a month.

“After coming here, I ran the Cork City Marathon relay and did it every year for 12 years.

“I inspired my friends to be part of a relay team. They never liked to run or jog, now nearly 50 of my friends have taken up running.”

Possibly his biggest sporting transformation came when he bought a tennis racket in a Tesco store in 2007, but when he joined Lower Aghada tennis club near Midleton, a coach advised him it was a child’s racket.

He now coaches there and trained to become a line umpire with the Irish Tennis Umpires’ Association, officiating at the recent Davis Cup world group play off between Ireland and Austria in the University of Limerick.

Kannan, who is married to CUMH clerical officer Subathra, studied paediatrics in Mumbai, completing his thesis in neo-natal care.

He secured his ‘dream job’ in the neo-natal unit at CUMH in 2007.

“I always want to learn new things, every day is a new learning in life. We won’t know everything but we can try to learn more.

“Keep persevering, keep trying, it will come one day. If you are passionate about something, you can become a master in it.”

Of the 8,000 babies born in CUMH annually, 10% are premature or high risk and enter neo-natal care.

The hospital is the only one outside Dublin with a cooling bed to reduce babies’ body temperature and stop potential brain swelling.

Donate what you can to Kannan’s iDonate fundraising drive here.