I will be 55 years and 3 weeks old on the day I run the London marathon, something I never imagined I would do in my lifetime.

On New Years Day 2013, our beloved 17-year old daughter, Harpreet collapsed at home and sadly passed away in front of our eyes in her mother’s arms. She had suffered a brain haemorrhage and our lives were permanently changed in the space of 15 minutes. Harpreet had a very bright future ahead of her and was an A* student at Wolverhampton Girls' High School. She was so full of life and happiness. Her loss has been immeasurable and 5 years on, we are still trying to come to terms with it.

I pledged to raise money in memory of my daughter and chose running, as it was the sport I hated the most at school and it would truly be a challenge. On May 5^th 2014 my running journey started with my first training session, otherwise known as, a brisk 15-minute walk around the park. The last time I had run over a mile was in the cross country at school over 40 years ago !!! This was going to be tough but I set my goal to run the Wolverhampton Marathon in Sept 2014, half way through the training I realised it was a lot harder and reset my goal to do the half marathon instead. Slowly but surely I stuck to my training regime and successfully completed the Wolverhampton Half Marathon on Sept 7^th 2014 and managed to raise over £3,500 in the process.

Over the past 5 years, we have raised over £15,000 for the Harpreet Kaur Gakhal Trust. Proceeds have gone to the Neurosurgery Unit and Magnolia House Bereavement Centre at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I have also raised money for on-going therapy for Elle-Mae Davidson, Harpreet’s school friend who sadly also suffered a brain haemorrhage around the same time.

Fundraising for worthwhile causes was central to Harpreet’s selfless character and a fitting tribute to her generosity of spirit. In 2013, the first donations in Harpreet’s memory provided a deaf child with a cochlear implant at Pingalwara Orphanage in Amritsar, India. Choosing Sense for their work in improving the lives of those unable to communicate was an obvious choice.  An added bonus is the colour orange which is a central theme for Sense and this resonated with Harpreet who loved Tigger !!

As I prepare for my most challenging run so far, I would be grateful for any donations you can make on behalf of Sense and in Harpreet’s memory.

Thanks

Parm