Hackney Half Marathon in memory of my Dad

Sup. Running the Hackney Half in May - in memory of my lovely Dad, Terry, who passed away very suddenly from Cancer four years ago.

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In the summer of 2020, my dad, Terry, registered to run the Ipswich Half Marathon. Having taken a bit of a break from running, he came back from his first 5K in a few months abnormally out of breath. We dismissed the tiredness and chest pains as simply the result of losing his fitness, as most people would.

A few months later, he began to suffer from back pain, and after three visits to the GP—who initially attributed the pain to something muscular—they eventually ran some blood tests. In November 2020, while I was away at uni in Manchester, I received a call from my mum with the devastating news: he’d been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that had spread to his back and bloodstream.

By December, we were given the prognosis—six months. Around Christmas, it became evident how rapidly his condition was declining and how little time we had left with him. When the option arose for him to go into a hospice, my mum, sister, and I decided to care for him at home. We were supported by nurses from St Elizabeth's Hospice, who came to our home to help care for him. He passed away on the 7th of February 2021, just three months after the diagnosis. The kindness of the nurse who was with us when he passed is something our family is hugely grateful for.

Terry was an amazing artist who devoted his life to his work. An interminable perfectionist, he was sharp, witty, and principled—qualities always playfully captured in his photographs. When he was ill, Terry joked about being pushed in a wheelchair to complete the half marathon. We never got the chance to do so with him, so I will be running it for him instead. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. <3 xx