I’ve always wanted to run a marathon. It was a bucket list thing, something to tick off but I never got round to it. Then earlier this year something happened which changed everything.

In January, my sister Kate was diagnosed with a brain tumour and given 12 months to live. Our whole family were of course devastated, trying to come to terms with this news, however also thinking of all the things we could do over the coming months to make lots of memories. Unfortunately, the tumour was a lot more aggressive than the doctors originally thought and my sister passed away 5 weeks later on 29th February, she was 53.

Throughout those 5 weeks, despite the fact that she had to undergo several surgeries and was clearly in a lot of pain, she was so incredibly brave, did everything she was told and never complained once.

Towards the end, Kate was moved to Manorlands, a Sue Ryder hospice in Oxenhope. Although she was only there for a short time, it was the most settled and peaceful I had seen her look throughout the 5 short weeks of her illness. The staff were amazing, not just with Kate but with the whole family, they couldn’t do enough for us, and we will forever be grateful to them for making Kate’s final days as comfortable as possible.

I miss my sister every day and decided that I wanted to do something in her memory and also to give back to the wonderful people that helped her so I applied to Sue Ryder for a place in the London Marathon and was incredibly lucky to be chosen to run for them in 2025.

So, now I get to do a marathon, running in memory of my fabulous sister and hopefully raising lots of money for a brilliant charity!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my story and if you feel that you can donate, however big or small, it really would be gratefully appreciated xx

Sue Ryder is here to make sure everyone approaching the end of their life or living with grief can access the support they need. There is no one size fits all when it comes to how we cope and the help we need, but with Sue Ryder's support, no one has to face dying or grief alone. They are there when it matters.