Matt Beckett

Matt & Dave's toughmudder Challenge

Fundraising for Karen Morris Memorial Trust
£1,505
raised of £1,000 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
In memory of Ian Beckett
Karen Morris Memorial Trust

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1141727

Story

The Karen Morris Memorial Trust was a charity that I had never heard of but their work proved to be so invaluable to my family, mum especially that I wanted to contribute to the fantastic work they do. Please read my story below to see how they supported us and thank you in advance for your donations.

In Oct 2012 dad turned 66 and was very fit and healthy, he still worked, played cricket, enjoyed Anna's roast dinners, playing with the grandchildren and more often than not could be found down the yard with Mum.

It was on a trip to watch Leah (my sister for anyone who doesn't know) in Holland that he started to feel unwell. Not one for doctors we made him go where they did all the normal tests. Everything came back healthy being compared to someone 10 years younger except his blood results which needed further investigation.

A trip back to the doctor was greeted with the news that dad was suffering from MDS (shorten for something I can't even say let alone spell). The basic's being that his bone morrow wasn't producing blood correctly and that with no treatment there was no guarantee how long he had to live. Dad stayed positive and started having blood transfusions to help regulate his blood levels. It was once a month, then every second week but all too quickly it become every week and in one consultation with the doctors they expressed the painful truth we didn't want to hear that he was looking at under a year to live..... 

A small glimmer of hope was offered in the form of a bone morrow transplant which even to this day I am not sure if it was a success or not.....

In July 2013 Dad's bags were packed and we took him to the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. From my understanding the whole process went well and within 2 months he was home and we started to see signs of our old dad coming back. For reasons I will never understand in September Dad suffered two strokes within a couple of weeks of each other and contracted an infection which put him back into hospital. What was once a drive of hope to Oxford became a tortured daily commute for my mum and the rest of the family as we did not know which husband, dad or grandad would meet us. With his condition changing seemingly every hour it became harder and harder to stay strong for him.

The daily drive to and from hospital was not only physically but mentally exhausting for my mum. It was during one of her daily visits and trying to find something to read to take her mind off things she saw a notice for relatives accommodation. Enquiring further there was 1 room free. The accommodation was funded by the Karen Morris Memorial Trust and lifted a huge stress from mum's life. The once exhausting drive switched to a short walk which was although still challenging. Mum stayed almost every night for the next 7 weeks.

I would hate to think what would of happened had this accommodation was not available. For my mum this gave her new energy to fight for dad and allowed her to be with him from early morning to late at night. It was easy to see it didn't matter how sick dad was he still looked at mum with love and could not have fought so hard without her being there.

Sadly on January 6th 2014, 6 days before their 40th wedding anniversary dad passed away leaving a gaping hole in all our lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and why I wanted to raise money for this charity.

And mum, I am extremely proud to be your son, seeing the level of fight and strength you showed,  the love you two had (99% of the time) and the determination to try to bring him back. It was to soon for dad to go but remember he has move on but we haven't and will always be with you. Apart from Saturday when we need you to babysit........

Matt

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About the charity

Karen Morris Memorial Trust

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1141727
The Karen Morris Memorial Trust currently funds four Karen's Homes from Home for leukaemia patients and their families at: Hammersmith Hospital, the Churchill in Oxford, Addenbrooke's in Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth in Birmingham with the fifth under discussion.

Donation summary

Total raised
£1,505.00
+ £242.50 Gift Aid
Online donations
£1,505.00
Offline donations
£0.00

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