A runner at the London Marathon has been hailed a "hero" after stopping 300m from the finish line to help a struggling competitor finish the race.
David Wyeth was having difficulty staying on his feet due to exhaustion as he came around the final corner of yesterday's race.
Matthew Rees came up behind him and decided to stop and help, sacrificing his own chances of clocking a good race time.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After Wyeth fell to the ground, Rees put his arm around him and gave some words of encouragement, before a steward also came to Wyeth's aid and both men assisted Wyeth over the finish line.
Rees told the BBC: "I came round the final corner and I saw a runner struggling, his legs were collapsing beneath him. Every time he tried to get up, he kept on falling back to the ground.
"I went over to him and said 'come on, you can do this' and tried to gee him up. But every time he tried to get up, I realised he wasn't going to make it," he added. "I said c’mon we can do this, we will do it together, we’ll cross the line together."
In a BBC interview this morning, Wyeth thanked Rees and said he told him to carry on without him.
"I was urging him to move on, you know 'please don't sacrifice your race for me'. But he stuck with me and I think a volunteer also joined me on the other side," he said.
"I got up, they helped me up, and I just tried to keep moving."
The two men finished in a time of two hours, 52 minutes and 26 seconds, putting them in the top 1,000 competitors, says Sky News, which described Rees as a "hero".
After crossing the finish line, Wyeth, who was running in memory of his uncle, was led away for medical assessment.
The viral clip has caused a dramatic spike in donations to Wyeth's JustGiving page with his fundraising total reaching almost £8,000, far beyond his £1,000 goal, which will go to Isabel Hospice.
-
August 30 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump's role reversal and King George III
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootingsCartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US FedTalking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assaultSpeed Read Man Utd confirm the striker will not train or play until further notice
-
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pantsSpeed Read Women competitors will be required to ‘wear short tight pants with a close fit’
-
London Marathon: two exceptional success storiesfeature The standout Britons were a junior doctor and a runner overlooked for the Olympic squad
-
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second comingSpeed Read Last week, Manchester United re-signed the forward on a two-year deal thought to be worth more than £400,000 a week
-
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?Speed Read Declaring a bank holiday would be ‘tempting fate’, says Boris Johnson
-
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender firstSpeed Read New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will make history at Tokyo 2020
-
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreedSpeed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Joachim Low and the Lions women’s team
-
Sport shorts: Sturgeon slams Rangers fans over title celebrationsSpeed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Keely Hodgkinson and Bryson DeChambeau
