Community Dietician Lisa Green joined her patient Gary Taylor recently to present their story to the Nutritional Support Symposium at the Royal Society of Medicine.

Lisa won a CHFT Star Award last August for supporting Gary to run the London Marathon. Gary was the first peg-fed* patient to complete the London Marathon and the only way he could complete the 26-mile run** was with a backpack containing his liquid food and hydration.

Lisa, says: "I talked about my dietetic intervention in helping Gary achieve his goal of running the London Marathon in 2018.  To our knowledge, he was the first person to complete a marathon with an enteral feeding tube (unable to eat or drink orally).  There were no guidelines available and I worked out an enteral feeding plan based on 'trial and error' and my knowledge of sports dietetics."

Comments from the audience included:

  • "Inspirational"
  • "Enhanced insight into the patient view of tube feeding. Putting yourself in their patient’s shoes! "
  • "Very inspiring talk – showed how dietitians can have an impact on patient’s quality of life and made me want to make sure I’m going above and beyond for my patients "
  • "Enjoyed hearing how sports & clinical dietetics are/can be combined "

*PEG stands for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a procedure in which a flexible feeding tube is placed through the abdominal wall and into the stomach

** On the day of the run Lisa was in constant phone contact advising him what to take in and when. She said: " I was really worried all day as I felt really responsible. He could not stop to take on fluids if he was dehydrated. Gary is truly inspirational and I enjoyed supporting him with his challenge!!