Inspiring teenager that had open heart surgery in Leeds three years ago comes first of women at Christmas 5km race

Molly Hayes, 14, from Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire, was the first woman to finish the annual Big Leeds Santa Dash 2022 on Sunday morning with an impressive time of 22 minutes and 44 seconds – a personal best. It’s an incredible achievement for someone whose parents were told just three years prior that she had a 10% chance of surviving open heart surgery.

Speaking after the race, which was held to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice, Molly told the Yorkshire Evening Post that she had been looking forward to running in Leeds due to the close bond she has formed with the city since she began receiving treatment at the children’s hospital at Leeds General Infirmary.

The complications started when nine-year-old Molly suffered a stroke in February 2018, resulting in the right side of her body being paralysed. For over a year she took regular trips to Sheffield Children’s Hospital – saying it became like a second home – where doctors tried to work out what had happened but to no avail.

She said: “I spent 18 months in bed being a dead alive person.

"Eventually we came to Leeds – which is why I love it so much.”

In May 2019, Molly was recommended to see a doctor in Leeds who diagnosed her with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which is a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast. Molly said that at one point her heart reached 256bpm and after multiple failed attempts to lower it, doctors had to stop her heart. She said: “I was pronounced dead but was lucky enough to be offered a second chance at life as my heart restarted itself.”

Then in November 2019, doctors in Leeds performed heart surgery on Molly for four-and-a-half hours, during which it was found that she also had complications with her heart valves. She said that after she was told that if the surgery had not been performed she would have “been dead by Christmas”.

Molly said that she “gained a lot of weight” during her recuperation due to the tablets that she took slowing her metabolism down and also due to her “lounging about” – especially during the Covid lockdowns in 2020. She said: “I used food as an escape from my trauma and allowed myself to gain more and more.”

Molly said that it was in December 2021 that her mum urged her to exercise with her in their home gym, where she set herself the challenge of doing 3km. She said: “I had to walk-run it but at that point I just wanted to do it. So every month I set a goal to run an extra kilometre and then in July my dad took me out to a 5km and I loved it.

"Later that month I did a park run in 29 minutes and I just kept wanting to get better and better. In August I ran my first 10km and then a week later I did York 10km in 54 minutes.

"Since then running’s become more like an addiction. At first I just wanted to lose weight but now I just run because it’s my life. Today’s the first race I’ve ever won and I've got a 5km PB so I’m really proud of myself.

"It’s really special because three years ago today I was in a wheelchair recovering from heart surgery.”

She continued: “It just feels really special because at one point I thought there was no point being alive anymore. It’s really hard for a kid to say that but I was just 10 sitting in a hospital bed being like ‘what’s the point?’. So to do races like this means so much because you’re winning stuff and I think ‘That girl that was laying in bed would be so proud of me’.

"I don’t do it for myself. I do it for the Molly that was really poorly and was wondering whether she was going to live through the night.”

Also taking part in the Santa Dash on Sunday was Molly’s dad and running partner Richard, who came first overall out of the 500+ people taking part in the lapped race around the city centre. He then stayed by the finish line dressed in his Santa-themed running gear to cheer on Molly as she finished.

Richard said: “It gives me a bigger buzz seeing her do well as it does myself.”

Also cheering the two on was Molly’s mum Sarah, who said: “Since Molly was in that hospital bed and they told us there was a 90% chance she would not make it anything Molly does is incredible. Just to see Molly running is incredible. To see her up and walking is incredible. It’s still very surreal.”

Molly, who aspires to be an officer and fast-jet pilot in the Royal Air Force, now has a number of races in her sight through the next year and has set up a fundraising page where she is raising money for The Leeds Children's Heart Surgery Fund, which funded her surgery. Molly initially set a target of £256 and has already smashed that by raising an amazing £1,123. To view her Just Giving page or donate click here.