Student veterinary nurse honours dogs in her care as she runs metric half marathon

Nancy Foster, who lives in Albrighton, is studying veterinary nursing at Wolverhampton PDSA Pet Hospital – People's Disciplinary for Sick Animals.

The 27-year-old said she has seen first-hand the impact PDSA has on families in the city and wanted to do something to give back.

Nancy has just taken part in the half marathon event last Sunday – a 13.1km challenge – in honour of the pets in her care.

She said: “Every day I see the amazing impact that PDSA has on pets in need and their families and I couldn’t be prouder to work here.

“Everyone works so hard, from the care assistants to the cleaners to the vets, it’s a great team to be a part of.

“I’ve always wanted to do some sort of charity challenge so when the opportunity to do the Shrewsbury Metric Half Marathon came up I thought – why not.”

Nancy’s ran alongside her husband, Josh Foster, 28, who went dressed in veterinary scrubs, and father in law, Trev Foster, 53, who dressed as Scooby Doo.

Josh, who runs his own architecture business, added: “Back in 2013 we were both (Josh and Trev) involved in a bad car accident where my dad had to be airlifted to hospital.

“Many charities were there for us on the day and in recovery, so we wanted to do something to say thank you. That’s when we started running and completed our first half marathon the following year.

“We’ve done some sort of charity run roughly every year since – always raising money for a different charity that means something to us or family members.”

Nancy and Josh have a white German Shepherd called Finley who they rescued when he was just two years old.

Wolverhampton PDSA Pet Hospital is one of 48 PDSA Pet Hospitals across the country which delivers free and low-cost veterinary care to poorly pets in need.

In 2022, the hospital on Tuxford Close, off Hilton Street, saw 7,757 pets, carried out 1,086 X-rays, 613 surgical operations and 709 ultrasounds.

To find out more about PDSA, or find a fundraising challenge of your own, head to pdsa.org.uk.