I went viral after the London Marathon – it showed me the best of humanity

At the start of 2025, my nine-year-old niece, Freya, was diagnosed with a rare, inoperable brain tumour. She passed away last August.

Last Sunday I ran the London Marathon with my sisters, raising money for Young Lives vs Cancer, who have supported my family incredibly through the hardest time of our lives.

The marathon itself was, naturally, very tough. I actually felt amazing for the first 15 miles – the atmosphere was beautiful, the weather glorious, and the crowd support, especially from family and friends, really carried me through.

Then came the stitch. It stopped me in my tracks, and I had to walk for a bit. I thought about stopping entirely, but the thought of Freya, how strong she was through everything kept me moving forward. I was proud of myself crossing the finish line, but I was completely spent physically and emotionally, crying my way from the finish line to a meeting point to see other runners from Young Lives vs Cancer a few hundred metres down the Mall.

But it was what happened after that I wasn’t prepared for. My wife and I had to make our way back home and we were in a rush to pick up our things from our hotel in East London. At Embankment station, we then got on the wrong tube and had to get off at Monument five stops away. And as our train pulled away, we realised we were basically alone on our platform, but the opposite platform was absolutely packed with marathon supporters.

It was like a curtain raising at the theatre as the train pulled away – as we were standing there, one person opposite started clapping, then another, then another… and within seconds the entire platform was cheering, blaring horns and congratulating me. At first I was looking around, assuming it was for someone else. Then I realised my side of the platform was empty. It was for me. I was completely overwhelmed. I think the first thing I did was cover my face.

My wife started filming, and I just stood there smiling, not really knowing what to do. It meant so much but at the same time, I felt a bit in shock. Out of 59,000 runners, so many people had their own incredible stories.

I started clapping back at them just to show my appreciation. It was such a powerful moment, just strangers choosing to be kind and celebrate someone they didn’t know.

Then it just hit me, and I started crying.

I woke up on Monday morning and a friend in Australia had sent me a TikTok video of the moment from the opposite platform. It had about 60,000 views. I remember thinking it was a nice thing to see, then put my phone away and headed to work. By the time I arrived at work, my phone was going mad. Friends and family were messaging, and when I started reading the comments, they were all so kind.

Then the TV personality and podcaster, Jamie Laing, shared it to his 1.8 million Instagram followers, and everything escalated really quickly. As it stands, it’s got more than 8.4 million views.

A couple of days before the marathon, I had actually said to my wife that I could really do with a lift. Training had been tough, work was busy, I’d just sat an exam, and we are renovating our house ahead of our first child arriving in June, so it’s been a full-on time.

And then that moment happened. It genuinely restored a bit of faith in people for me, just how much good there is, and how people can come together to lift someone up.

I reached out to Young Lives vs Cancer because I realised this could be an opportunity to raise more awareness. Once we shared the video, things really took off. Donations started coming in, big and small, and I found myself constantly checking the page as it more than doubled.

And then there is Freya. Speaking to her mum afterwards, we both agreed that this is something Freya would have absolutely loved. She loved sport, she loved people, and she loved being the centre of attention. She would have thought going viral was amazing – and I also like to think she’d be laughing a bit at me, knowing how uncomfortable I am with all this attention. So it feels like a way of saying thank you from Freya.

You can donate to Liam’s marathon page for Young Lives vs Cancer here