Each year, a truly special child is given the honour of representing Alder Hey Children’s Hospital as an honorary runner in the Grand National, proudly holding the title of the 35th Runner.

The Jockey Club and Alder Hey have been in partnership for 25 years with Alder Hey being the official charity of the Grand National.

It’s chance to share our story and shine a spotlight on Alder Hey and all the amazing work they do.

The 35th runner is an honorary place in the Grand National and there is no physical horse as the 35th runner.

If you would like to support the 35th runner you can do so by donating to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, either via their website or on this just giving page.

This year it is Oliver Christie is the 35th Runner. Oliver is 5 years old and lives with a life-limiting heart condition. Without the medical interventions of Alder Hey and their team, Oliver would not be with us today.

Oliver has Congenital Heart Disease; his main heart condition is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means the left side of his heart is severely underdeveloped. He has had five open-heart surgeries, including ECMO. Oliver has just had his last palliative surgery at Alder Hey on the 9th March 2026, which was extremely successful and he was discharged from hospital only 23 days after open heart surgery and is recovering well at home. All of his surgery is palliative; his heart will never be fixed. However after the most recent surgery Oliver excelling with his energy levels, positivity and joy for life.

Oliver has had many other procedures, including multiple cardiac catheterisations and two diaphragm plications. Oliver was also on home oxygen for two and a half years.

Oliver also has Cerebral Palsy following a stroke at birth. The type of cerebral palsy he has is left hemiplegia, which affects the whole of the left side of his body. He also has global developmental delay, which has mostly affected his speech. Oliver uses an AAC device and Makaton to help him communicate; however, he is a very determined little boy and his speech is developing with help from his speech therapist at Alder Hey. Oliver is also tube-fed through the stomach with a blended diet and specialised milk.

We have spent Christmases at Alder Hey, and his first and second birthdays there as well. Prior to his first birthday, we had been in hospital for three months. Oliver had been in and out of ICU three times during those three months and had undergone three open-heart surgeries in that time. A group of nurses decided to dress up as the Teletubbies to cheer Oliver up and celebrate his first birthday while he was in hospital. For his first birthday, we even did a cake smash photoshoot in Oliver’s hospital room.

When Oliver came out of hospital after his three-month stay, we decided to create an appeal that donates bedsheets to Alder Hey ICU. “Imagine your child in ICU and the only control you have is choosing their bedsheet.” Choosing Oliver’s fun, colourful bedsheet every day helped me through the darkest days in ICU, and I wanted to give back. In total, we donated over 350 bedsheets to Alder Hey in January 2022.

Oliver is a very kind, caring little boy, and as a family we like to give back to Alder Hey as we are so grateful for everything the whole team does. Every Christmas for the past four years we have supported the Alder Hey Christmas Present Appeal. This is when people donate toys and we deliver them to Alder Hey before Christmas so children at Alder Hey can receive a present on Christmas Day, just like Oliver did in 2021 and 2022.

We are very fortunate that Oliver enjoys visiting the hospital because Alder Hey does not make it feel like a hospital. With help from the play specialists, music therapy team, doctors and nurses, they make the whole family feel at ease. Oliver particularly enjoys the music team who come around the ward and play live musical instruments.

We are very grateful to the play specialists, who have helped Oliver with distractions while he has been in hospital through games and crafts. Father Christmas has even visited Oliver in hospital!

In Olivers recent stay at Alder Hey he loved visiting the MediCinema, a time escape the medical interventions and entre the world of cinema. Oliver was able to visit the cinema from the comfort of his bed, whilst he was still recovering from open heart surgery. The cinema was bright and inviting and with medically trained staff patients and parents felt at ease.

Oliver will be enjoying watching the Randox Health Grand National with family and friends from the MediCinema at Alder Hey on Saturday and will be cheering on from the colourful seats.

Despite Oliver’s medical conditions, he lives life to the full. He recently started mainstream school and is loving making friends. Oliver has a love for horses and we regularly visit our local stables, where Oliver rides with the Riding for the Disabled Association. He has been riding since February 2023 (even with his oxygen), and his riding has improved Oliver’s core strength. He can now trot on the pony and thinks he is a cowboy!

I have been with the Jockey Club since October 2019, and they have been on this journey with me and Oliver. They have always been so supportive of Oliver and my family.

We are forever thankful to Alder Hey for everything they have done and will continue to do for Oliver and our Family it is a true honour to be the 35th Runner in this years Grand National and we are so proud to share our story of how Alder Hey has cared for Oliver.