I'm doing this Sprint Triathlon in memory of my two dear friends who lost the battle with Cancer. First, let me say something: I can't run. I hate running more than anything. I also didn't even have a bike. I just bought a cheap second-hand road bike just for the event. This is a massive challenge for me.

Let me tell you about them.

Poppy was a ray of sun when my mum died in 2020 out of the blue. She was leading the community called Griefcase and she helped me and many other souls to navigate grief. A talented paper-cutting artist, we became friends quite quickly and it got even better when she moved to Brighton. We often saw each other very often to do activities like swimming, coffee, roller skating and dancing in silly places. Oh dear, how she made me laugh. Poppy was a force of nature. We had plans, for an exhibition together about COVID and grief, to travel to Argentina, and so many things to do. A kind, hilarious, wonderful person. Poppy found out she had leukaemia on May 5th 2023 and passed away on September 29th 2023. She was 36 years old.

I'm still trying to get my head around this.

Nicola was my first friend when I moved to England. She was a fantastic journalist who gave me my first job when I arrived in this country. A very old friend of my husband, Nicola organised my hen do and opened her arms welcoming me and my baby to the UK. She had a strong sense of honour and always had a noble cause to fight for. She created Congo Connect in 2012, a non-profit organisation that aims to raise awareness of human rights abuses. She organised a very successful exhibition in 2013 and many fundraising for this cause. Nicola went to the doctor in Nov 2015 with a stomachache and told us the news that it was cancer in Feb 2016. She got married to the love of her life in June 2016 and died on August 3rd, 2016. I went to the wedding and the funeral in the same dress as I was pregnant, those are things you never forget. She was 34 years old.

I think about them all the time. I miss them. I'm doing this in their memory, I'm raising money for the families who need support in this difficult path.

Thanks for supporting my fundraising. Macmillan gives everything they’ve got to people with cancer. If you’re diagnosed, your worries are Macmillan’s worries. Macmillan’s does whatever it takes. But without your help, Macmillan can’t support everyone who needs them.

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