Myself and Ed have decided alongside my brother and my cousins to take part in the Irish Tough Mudder 2019 in memory of our Mothers. Please take two minutes to read their stories. Thank you.

Kerry’s Story -

My mom was always a fighter living life to the full everyday, she was a true adrenaline junkie and always pushed herself, never accepting she couldn’t do this or that. She had cancer but she still lived her life on her terms right til the end.

She took part in many marathon events before switching to obstacle courses as they looked more challenging. She signed us both up in 2014 for a Tough Mudder I didn’t know at the time it was a 12 mile mud course with 25+ obstacles ranging from electric shocks to swimming through a skip full of tonnes of ice. Safe to say that began the story of her desire to complete 10 of these before she turned 50. 

That’s when the cancer decided to get involved but did it put her off?..no it just galvanised her to do more and she did. We completed these courses all over the UK and Ireland over the next four years all while she underwent various chemotherapies in an effort to control the cancer.

However, she just couldn’t stop the spread we completed her final 3 tough mudders in a 4 week period as she knew her health was failing her. Despite having no hair, no energy and having tumours on her brain, neck, lungs and I don’t even remember where else it had spread she did it. 120 miles of mud, 250 obstacles, 4 years, she gained her 10th headband and sadly just 8 weeks later heaven gained another angel. She never made her 50th birthday but she became an inspiration to me for the rest of my life.

Carol’s Story -

My mum had an amazing talent for making things. She was a very practical person. She was very creative and a perfectionist. Always making things in her spare time.
My mum was also very well travelled. Spontaneously booking holidays and travelling to different countries, all over the world, with her friends and family. Even when the doctors recommended that she shouldn’t fly again, she knew she’d always wanted to go to Italy before she passed away and she did do, demonstrating the testament of fulfilling something that she always wanted to do, before she left our world behind.
And why not?
My mum loved working with children. Her passion and career was in teaching. She worked at Rosehill, a special educational needs school, practising sign language too and link working with some of the children, a few hours every other day, after school.
She then moved to Sycamore primary school.
My mum was very family orientated too. She was besotted by her 3 grandchildren Reggie, Rose and Cruz, who she loved very much and enjoyed spending time with.
She was the perfect role model and the epitome of a fantastic grandma.

My mum was very talented at drawing and she had a passion for art too. Her favourite artist was a man called ‘Sam Toft’
She came across one of his paintings one day. It’s title was
“carry on regardless”..
For my birthday, my mum brought me the painting, to my surprise. She said “carrying on regardless” best describes my personality in both the good and bad times. She knew me better than I knew myself and I couldn’t have agreed with her more. The painting is sentimental on an indescribable level. So much so that I have the quote tattooed on me in her memory of what she always used to say to me and I live by that.

My mum firstly had cancer in the bowel. The doctors discovered it, in it’s early stages. They were able cut away 6 inches of her bowel and remove the cancer.
Her stitches tore within the first week of being at home, whilst she was recovering. She was admitted to a high dependency ward after having emergency surgery and made a full recovery, in due course.

A few years later, my mums cancer came back. This time in her liver. Secondary to her bowel cancer. The surgeon was able cut away 30% of my mums liver, removing the cancer successfully once again and she made a full recovery, in due course.

A couple of years later, my mums cancer came back again.
The cancer made its return, in her liver again. The surgeon said that this time, they could not operate on her. They had already surgically removed too much of her liver. If they removed anymore, she would die.
They also said that due to the amount of scar tissue she had and how much surgery she’d undergone previously, they didn’t think her body was strong enough to have anymore surgery.
My mum was treated with chemotherapy in an attempt to shrink the tumour on her liver and destroy the cancer. This worked and she made a full recovery again, in due course.

A couple of years later, my mums cancer came back, for the last time and at the age of just 54!
My mum was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
She had 4 tumours on her lungs. The tumours were small and in a difficult location, making it impossible for the surgeons to remove them. The cancer spread to her brain too. She had 2 tumours on her brain now too. There was nothing that anyone could do, surgically speaking.
The hospital attempted to try and destroy the cancer with radiotherapy. This didn’t work. Conclusively, the hospital made her feel as comfortable as possible..
On the night of the 28th of January 2017 at 1:45am, my mum passed away, at peace.
She had hold of my hand one side of the bed and Toms the other, until she took her final breath.

We have decided to take part in the Irish Tough Mudder on the 20th July 2019. Kerry completed this course in 2017 running alongside her son and nephews. We will complete it in her and Carol’s memory whilst raising funds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where they managed to keep Kerry alive for as long as they could. The staff there on the cancer ward do a phenomenal job and do not get the credit they deserve. We also plan to donate to Cancer Research UK in Carol’s memory so come on dig deep and let’s raise some cash so they can try and cure this horrible disease and keep many others alive for even just one more day with their loved ones.

Kerry Walter 1968 - 2018 (aged 49)

Carol Whitehead 1964 - 2017 (aged 54)