Running saved me again, says Rwanda victim

Genocide boy who hid under father to escape shooting thanks his charity

- Matt Majendie

A RUNNER who survived the Rwandan genocide by hiding underneath his father and then lived on the streets of London for a year will run the marathon for the second time as a tribute to the charity which transformed and possibly saved his life.

Claude Umuhire, 31, now helps homeless young people in the capital through his work at the Running Charity, which took him off the streets more than a decade ago. He came to London aged 10 after his father and two brothers were killed, his life saved only by his father’s selfless act.

“I went through the whole ordeal of losing most of my family — it wasn’t the best of starts to life,” he said. “I was lucky enough to be with my dad when we were taken to the killing fields. He laid on top of me so I didn’t get harmed.