The “Run with Sai: 400,000 Steps to Save Children with Cancer” charity drive has increased its total donations to more than $100,000 as of November 4, according to the campaign organizers.
The campaign was initiated by Uon Pakthom, a Cambodian singer and celebrity better known as Sai. He completed a 303km charity run along with friends starting from Phnom Penh and ending in Siem Reap in just nine days from October 22, completing the feat of endurance on October 30.
The donations will all go to Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap and will be earmarked to support cancer treatments for children. At the end of the run Sai had raised $66,470 and then received more money in the days afterwards. The charity is still accepting donations even though the event is finished because it costs upwards of $300,000 per year for the hospital to treat cancer patients.
In 2020, Sai spent 97 days running around Cambodia and raised about $500,000 for the hospital to enable the hospital to give free cancer treatment to children.
Sai said that doctors have now warned him not to run long distances anymore or he would face problems with his knees as he aged, but he’s vowed to find another way to raise funds for the hospital.
While his running may have to slow down, his efforts to help children with cancer never will, according to Sai.