A RUNNER with two titanium hips from Worcester has completed a half-marathon in aid of the charity that found him a loving adoptive home as a child and five decades on, helped reunite him with his birth family.
Richard Sadler, aged 57, ran the Bournemouth half marathon on Sunday (October 12) for Action for Children. The charity, previously known as The National Children’s Home, supported Richard’s adoption in 1968, following a difficult start in life.
Action for Children took then three-month-old Richard into their care, and found a safe and loving adoptive family for him in Worcestershire, a week before Christmas.
Richard said: “I had a wonderful childhood as I was adopted by a loving family on a farm in Worcestershire. I was happy and didn’t think about tracking down my family until I had therapy in my 50s and they suggested that it would benefit me to learn more about my roots.
“In February of 2024 I contacted Action for Children who were happy to help me. They found my adoption records and put me in touch with an organisation called ACE (Adoption Central England) so that I could gain access to my birth records.
“I found out that my mother sadly passed away in 2002, but with the information about my parents’ names and location I was able to find a family tree that had been built online by my uncle, and so I got in touch with him. I then found out that I had two full biological sisters as well. They were in complete shock, in floods of tears, that they had a brother they had never known about.
“We met for the first time face-to-face on my birthday in August last year and it’s been brilliant discovering a whole new family and building relationships with my sisters after all this time. We’ve had weekends away together and it’s been truly amazing to become part of their family.”
Richard has so far raised over £1,800 of his £2,000 fundraising goal, training hard following two hip replacements due to arthritis later in life.
He added: “I’m raising money for Action for Children as I’m so grateful to them – I don’t know where I would have been without the National Children’s Home, as it was then.
“Not only was I introduced to my incredible adoptive family through them, but I was given a second life with my biological family all these years later. It means so much to me; all these people were working hard and invested in helping me, which has improved my life immeasurably. The least I can do is try and give back.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/page/richard-sadler-2? to donate.
