Leah Walker
BMWs Barmy Army raising money for St Ann's Hospice in memory of Mike Walker
Fundraising for St Ann's Hospice
Story
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Leah & Carrie’s story…
We are raising money in memory our Dad Big Mike Walker who sadly passed away in St Ann’s Hospice in July 2016. Anyone that knows us knows how close Carrie and I were to our Dad having lost our Mum when we were very young and Dad ‘sort of’ taking over! We want to raise funds for St Ann’s Hospice as we credit them with us coping so well at the end of Dad’s life and then when he passed away. They were amazing…. they made Dad comfortable, had banter with him, gave him gin and tonic and ice cream when he would eat nothing else and generally made his and many other lives bearable. St Ann’s have to raise £16,000 a day to keep the hospices going so to do our tiny bit a group of us (kids included) are doing some fundraising, these are the challenges we are going to do throughout 2017:
- St Ann's Hospice Colour obstacle run - 5km - 19th March 2017
- Born Survivor - 10km obstacle course - 13th May 2017
- St Ann's Hospice Midnight walk - 10km - 23rd July 2017
- Tough Mudder - 12mile obstacle course - 29th July 2017 (hell!!)
- Salford 10km road run - 3rd September 2017
Tough Mudder will be hell but I figure I can cope with 5 hours of hell if it helps one person and their family have a better end of life at St Ann’s Hospice like our Dad did.
BMW's friends and family Story
In March 2016, our beloved Walker family got the awful news that the leader of the pack, Mike (BMW) was terminally ill. Just a few short months later, he finally lost a brave battle with cancer.
Immediately after his diagnosis, his daughter Leah, became his primary carer, a role that she carried out with great aplomb. But after a sterling effort to keep him home for as long as possible the time came for Mike to move to St Ann's.
There are a couple of things that have really stuck with us about a place like St Ann's, firstly, Mike had a huge entourage. The waiting list to get in to see him was ridiculous but St Ann's Hospice offered a space for everyone. We could visit and see he was being cared for, super comfortable and still able to give abuse when he felt up to it!
By having St Ann's there, ready to step in and take over the care from Leah when the time was right, it meant that she and her sister Carrie got to go back to being his daughters again and Mike could get back to being their Dad for those final few weeks. Priceless.
We are all serious about raising a big pile of dosh for this wonderful cause so we're joining Leah and Carrie to take on this series of challenges throughout 2017. Thank you in advance to all of you for the money you're going to help us raise . You're a tiny bit marvellous.