A Southport woman who is running the London Marathon in memory of her late husband says she is “humbled” by the support she has received from people.
Tracey Barlow’s final words to her husband, Andrew, was a promise to “do something that would make you proud” – and she is doing just that.
Andrew tragically died from a brain tumour at the age of just 36.
Tracey is now running to raise money for Queenscourt Hospice, with people able to donate via her Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TraceyJBarlow
Queenscourt, which has a hospice on Town Lane in Southport, cares for around 2,000 families from across West Lancashire, Southport and Formby each year.
Tracy is now training hard for the tough 26.2 mile race on 2nd October 2022, as she gets ready for the famous race.
She said: “Fundraising is going really well and I’ve been quite humbled by the support. So a big thank you to everyone who has already helped and sponsored me so far.
“I’m halfway through my training plan and I’ve been sticking to my schedule as much as possible despite the varying weather!
“I would like to say a personal thanks to Rob at Runyourpb.com for his help.
“I am running in a half marathon in Lytham this weekend which should give me a good idea of where I am up to!
“I am currently looking for raffle prizes – I have set up a separate email address to use if anyone wanted to get in touch – traceymarathon@yahoo.com”
Tracey, from Southport, now works at Queenscourt Hospice and is eager to raise as much money as she can for the hospice, seeing at first hand every day the amazing work the charity does in the local community.
She said: “The last thing I said to Andrew was that I would do something ‘that would make him proud.
“For my 50th birthday, I wanted to do something special but unfortunately, the country was in lockdown. Then I started a new job at Queenscourt Hospice this year.
“A former colleague knew that I ran and said ‘we still have spaces for the London Marathon, if you wanted to apply for a charity place’.
“I knew that this was the challenge I had been looking for.”
Andrew was diagnosed with a brain tumour just 12 months after he married Tracey.
Despite the devastating news, Andrew fought against the condition with everything he had, enabling him to spend many more years with his wife.
Tracey said: “Our world should have fallen apart; but Andrew was determined to fight. Andrew followed all the advice that he was given; special diets, no alcohol and to listen to his body. “Eight years, two operations, endless rounds of chemotherapy and two lots of radiotherapy and we thought he had beaten it, but within six months of being told he was in remission, the tumour finally fought back.
“Andrew spent the last six weeks of his life at Queenscourt Hospice.
“The doctors had given him two weeks, such was his will to fight.
“The care Andrew received, as well as the support provided to our families, was incredible and something we will never forget.”
“The London Marathon will be tough, physically and mentally; 26.2 miles but with every step I will think of Andrew and his battle.
“I also want to enjoy this experience, so my focus isn’t on a time but to raise as much money as I can, so that many more people in need can also benefit from the amazing help and support provided by Queenscourt.”
- To donate to Tracey’s JustGiving page please visit: ttps://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TraceyJBarlow or scan the QR code in this article.
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