Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 

Here is my story of how I have come to start raising money and this is the start of many adventures I plan on doing to keep up the support for this great charity and others like it who all do an amazing job. 

I'm normally quite a private person however I have decided to let you have an insight into my life in the hope you will be able to donate an amount to this great charity. (No amount is too small and all donations are greatly received) 

I sadly lost the best woman in my life in 2008 to bowel cancer, she was not only my mam however my soul mate and with her death a big part of me went with her. 

Norma was an inspiration to all the family and everyone that knew her, she always had time for anyone and even when on her death bed she was still more concerned for other people and how they were doing than the fate that she knew was coming. 

I lost my dad suddenly in 2007 (Derek Parr) to an undiagnosed brain tumour, during this time he and the family were supporting my mam through her initial diagnoses of bowel cancer. 

This rocked the family and my mam however she knew she had to still stay strong to try and beat this disease. 

She had numerous trips to the hospital to have parts of her bowel removed in order for them to remove the cancer, numerous chemo therapy sessions to ensure it had all been killed/removed. 

Things were looking up when the hospital advised her that the surgery was successful and they give her the all clear - This was the biggest highlight of my life to think at the time my mam could be with the family and I and she had beaten this deadly disease. 

However this was short lived and she got an unexpected call after a check up to advise her to come to the hospital. 

My mam although didn’t show it was scared of the outcome and attended the hospital to receive the news they needed to tell her. 

They advised her that there was an error and in fact the tumour they thought they had successfully removed had actually spread during surgery to other vital organs in her body. 

I still remember the day I received a text from her in which she broke the news to me - The text message simply said "game over". 

I just broke down in a flood of tears knowing that this was the beginning of the end; I quickly composed myself to rush out of work to attend the hospital in which she had chosen to attend on her own so no-one would be inconvenienced as to what was happening in her life. 

I arrived to find my mam walking around the grounds of the hospital in a trans like state, I jumped out of the car to give her the biggest hug I ever have (I always portrayed a macho image to her and didn’t like showing signs of affection) 

We arrived home and she was thinking ways of breaking this news to the family so it wouldn’t impact them, always trying to ensure everyone else came first - Well the news was broken and to say everyone was devastated was an understatement. 

She had been told she had around 6-8 months to live, so the next plan of action was to ensure she did most things that she wanted to do and ensure we were there to support her as much as we could. 

These months flew over and then the cancer took hold where she was no longer able to walk or do things that my strong mother could do, so then it was our turns as the family all pulled together to ensure we completed shifts to meet all the needs she needed. 

Even during this time she still didn’t want to cause a fuss and I remember the day she needed a hot water bottle, she was apologising for me having to go and fill a kettle up and go downstairs to fill it up - I remember saying to her "you have looked after me for 27 years of my life, the least I can do is fill up a hot water bottle for you". 

Norma decided that she wanted to die at home so we arranged for the bed to be brought into the living room so she could have her dying wish - When she fell into a coma the family took it in turns to stay over on the settee to ensure she was as comfortable as possible. 

The 18th July came and her organs started failing, I had slept on the settee that night on my shift to look after her when my Aunty Grace came in to advise me that she knew it was time for my mam to go. (My mam and Aunty had made a pact that she wouldn’t pass away unless she as there) With this information I kissed my mam on the head and brushed her hair back to tell her for the final time that I loved her and then left the house. 

Minutes later I received a text from my Aunty to confirm she had passed away in her sleep. 

The years that proceeded were extremely difficult with major downs in which I even at times contemplated taking my own life. 

After a lot of work on myself I have finally got back to the person I was before she passed and now am fit enough (mentally) to start a new journey of remembrance and to raise as much money as I can for a charity she loved. 

We all have a destiny to face one day however I used to ask my mam what the meaning of life was and she would reply "it’s what you want it to be" 

I didn’t really understand this at the time however a switch has suddenly gone off in my head and now I get it.................. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this page and just to remember if you know anyone who is going through this or any other disease then to just ensure you are there for them as much as you can be :-) 

RIP Norma Parr - 18/07/2008 - Love and miss you xxxxxxxxxx