Boyfriend and friend of popular Gosport girl killed in bus crash doing London Marathon 'for her'

Ethan Hope and Josh Heath will take on the gruelling run in honour of popular Gosport girl Elin Martin, 18, who died after the tragic accident near Gunwharf Quays in January.

Ethan and Josh, both 18 from Lee-on-the-Solent, hope to raise £3,500 for leprosy charity Lepra after Elin – who had offers to study medicine at university – took an interest in neglected tropical diseases such as leprosy. Elin had planned to work with the charity in her career.

The charity has already benefited from around £5,000 worth of fundraising efforts on behalf of Elin – thought to be the single largest contribution to the charity from a single source.

Ethan, who was Elin’s boyfriend when she passed away, said: ‘We’re doing it all for Elin. We’ve been training for the last month or two after running through the Alver Valley and Lee.

‘I can’t stop thinking about it…I’m quite nervous. People have been saying it’s ok to run a few miles and then walk the rest of it but I want to run the whole thing, though I’ve been shown videos of people passing out at the finish line. I’m 100 per cent sure I will finish it though.

‘We want to raise £1,700 each to make up the £3,500 that will go to Lepra. We are meeting organisers at mile 11. In total there’s 11 of us running for Lepra.

‘With all the fundraising everyone’s done for Lepra in memory of Elin, it means she has raised the most from a single source for the charity.

‘There’s going to be a big crowd and exciting vibes on the day to drive us on.’

Ethan’s mum, Samantha Hope, recently completed 200 dips in the sea in memory of Elin.

Writing on their fundraising the page, Ethan and Josh said: ‘In running the London Marathon we hope to spread awareness for the disease and raise as much money as possible to support this cause and the people affected. We would be incredibly thankful for the donation.’

To donate go to: tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/ethan-hope