I'm running the Liverpool Half Marathon in memory of my mum Wendy, she passed away on 13.03.03 after a beating leukaemia on 2 occasions once in 1992 and again in 1998, unfortunately when it returned in 2003 even someone as strong as my mum wasn't able to fight it off, the saddest part about it all is that it wasn't the Leukaemia that killed her, she caught a respiratory system infection which due to the leukaemia she was unable to fight off. 

I still remember the very last time I saw her in the hospital, she was a fighter,  right until the end and it will always be in my heart how strong she was. Summing up her strength even after two intense course's of chemotherapy and being told she would no longer be able to have children, in 1995 she gave birth to her daughter and my sister Emily, again I remember the day she told me she was pregnant i'll never forget how happy she was and back then being young and naive I didn't understand why but now i do and again it just shows how amazing my mum truly was.

Before and during her illness my mum was always raising funds for different charities whether it was getting the family walk up mount snowdin or a sponsored walk from Southport to Albert Dock in Liverpool, I personally remember that walk, I had a season ticket for Everton at the time and the walk started at 8am but me being again young and naive I still had aspirations of watching the game which was Everton Vs Tottenha, so instead of casually walking like the rest of my family I buddied up with a seasoned walker and managed to make my way back to the Albert Dock for 1.30pm unfortunately for me with my mum in the hospital at the time and the rest of my family still lagging way behind me, I had no possible way of getting to the ground, I always remember going to see my mum in the hospital after the race and her telling me she would "make up for me missing the game" even as she laid in bed with leukaemia she still put me first and that was something I will always cherish about my mum, her being her she got in touch with a good friend of her's Terry Kavanagh who was involved in lots of fund raising events, and after speaking to him he organised for me to meet and greet the players during the next game and get the VIP treatment which again I will never ever forget.

I always choose normally to remember how my mum lived her amazing life, but one thing that i'll never ever forget was the day of her funeral and this day just amplified truly how many people she touched, i remember turning the corner to drive towards the church and looking up and seeing the entire street being full on both sides from top to bottom, and even now as i type this I am getting a tear in my eye but that day showed just how amazing she was, and how i can't wait to do this run so she can watch me the entire way. 

I could honestly sit here all night and tell you stories about how amazing my mum was but i'm sure you have many stories to go through, I want to thank you again for taking the time to contact me and I hope me sharing some of my story with you will give other people the inspiration to raise money for the charity.

Cheers

Darren