A FIVE-YEAR-OLD has decided he wants to go the extra mile (or 26.2 miles to be exact) to show his gratitude to healthcare staff for their incredible work during the coronavirus crisis.

Theo Heath will be taking on a marathon challenge to raise money for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Charity.

His mum, Lauren Louise, said this was one of many inventive ways Theo had found to thank the health service in recent months.

She said: “Theo has been trying throughout the pandemic to do little things for the NHS.

“He has made thank you cards to place on their cars, he stops and thanks any member of NHS staff he sees (this includes me having to stop the car and wind down the windows). We are so proud of how much he appreciates all the NHS staff.

“However, he isn’t stopping there. He has asked to walk and run a full marathon over a calendar month. He wanted to raise money to help them for all the hard work they do.”

A JustGiving page called was set up on Monday morning with an aim of raising £100.

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But the youngster smashed his total in less than 24 hours, with more than £500 now having been raised by the page.

Lauren said he went to bed “one proud little boy” after his amazing first day of fundraising, having already walked more than five miles of his marathon.