A PARAMEDIC will tackle the Great North Run in honour of a very special patient.

Kacie Martin, from Wallsend, has a rare muscle wasting illness called Spinal Muscular Atrophy and has been in and out of hospital since she was a baby.

In January, the four-year-old was treated by North East Ambulance Service paramedic Marie Trotter for a collapsed lung.

The paramedic was so inspired by the four-year-old that she decided to take part in the Great North Run to buy a hydrotherapy pool for their garden.

She said: “There was just something about Kacie. She was such a sweet little girl, chatting away at me. I told her that night that she was my favourite patient ever.”