Burned British Soldier Set To Run 52 Marathons

The British veteran was badly burned in Iraq five years ago.

Starting tomorrow, 23-year-old Karl Hinett will set out on a journey to run nearly 1,400 miles in 2011. He’s doing it for a charity that’s close to his heart: the Queen Elizabeth Hospital burns unit in Birmingham, England. Hinett is himself a burn victim. In September, 2005 he suffered burns to over 37 percent of his body when his unit was attacked by a bomb on a rescue mission in Iraq.

Since that tragic day five years ago, Hinett has had numerous operations and skin grafts.

“It was a long process of recovery and I still come to the outpatients department now, but despite all the challenges I’ve faced, I’ve come through. It’s now time to give something back,” he says. “To me, anything is possible. A few months after the attack I ran the London Marathon to prove I could.”

Hinett is now taking to the roads. He has lined up 52 official marathons that he will run in 2011.

“Raising money to help other patients…is the least I can do to thank the fantastic doctors and nurses who saved my life and enabled me to achieve what I have,” he says.

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