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The fathers of two of the girls who were stabbed to death in the Southport attack will be running the London Marathon in memory of their daughters.
David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar said their daughters, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Aguiar, would be with them in spirit as they run the 26-mile course on Sunday.
Elsie, Alice and six-year-old Bebe King were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July. The killer, Axel Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time and injured 10 other people, was convicted of murder and is serving a minimum of 52 years in prison.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Aguiar said he talked to Alice while out running. “I tell her to keep going with me, that we’re going to do this together, you’re going to be with me – always.”
Stancombe said he had initially been encouraged to run the race by Elsie after watching it on television last year. She had meant for him to run it in honour of her grandmother and he said he never expected to be taking part for his little girl.
“A little bit of me was like ‘oh yeah, all right Els’,” he said. “I just never thought I would be running it for these reasons.”
He has already completed a half-marathon in his daughter’s memory, raising money for Elsie’s Story, a charity the family set up to give grants to young people.
Aguiar, who did not have much running experience before training for the marathon, is fundraising for a new playground, stage and library at Churchtown primary school, which his daughter and Bebe attended.
“Twenty-six miles, I’ve never done anything like that before. But for my girl, I would do 26 or 50, whatever,” he said. “The pain doesn’t matter, I’m going to do it.”
Alice’s mother, Alexandra Aguiar, also feels her daughter will be accompanying her dad in spirit during the marathon. “She’s always with us. And she’s going to be there helping Daddy,” she said. “[Alice] would have made a big thing of it and told everyone. She would also bring her shopping list to do after the marathon!”
Bebe’s mother, Lauren King, who will be at the race to support the pair with her husband, Ben, Bebe’s father, said: “It is just incredible what they are both doing. And we want to be a part of it every step of the way.”
She added: “They were such wonderful, caring little children. Even though none of them knew each other, they were all so similar. And I reckon they are just up there watching over us and looking out for us.”
