They did it! Laura and Luke ran/ jogged/ hobbled the Great North Run- all 13.1 miles of it!- for Macmillan Cancer Support on Sunday.

 It was tough going, what with Luke's bad lung and Laura's bad knee, but the sun was shining and the thought of all your donations got them through! But although their hard part is now over, Macmillan still need your money- and here's a quick rundown of why...

"I am under the care of a Macmillan nurse who is quite frankly marvellous. She tells GPs and even folk at the Marsden (hospital) to jump and they say "how high?!" Drugs are with us the same day as she prescribes them and she's always checking up on us" Dad's last blog 3.11.08 paulobyrne.com

Cancerbackup have merged with Macmillan making this a doubly fantastic cause. Together they helped Dad and us as a family to understand the diagnosis, learn more about the journey ahead and tackle the hard times head on.

Most importantly, they enabled Dad to stay exactly where he wanted to be - at the heart of the family home right to the very end.

Dad's motto was always Carpe Diem- seize the day- and from the point of diagnosis, and especially after Dad decided to stop treatment, we did just that with him. We really made the most of every last second with him, but we were only able to do that, and do it so well, thanks to the support of our wonderful Macmillan nurse.

Eileen, our nurse coordinated all of Dad's hospital treatments, hospice care, GP home visits, prescriptions - you name it she organised it. She was there to talk Dad through all the pros and cons of the pain medication and understood perfectly how to handle the situation - how to listen, understand and then offer her wisdom and advice on how best to proceed.

As any of you who had the privilege of knowing Dad will surely remember- understanding every minute detail and always feeling in control of his care was essential to him - and Eileen ensured that it always stayed that way.

She also ensured we as a family had everything we needed to care for him at home and the reassurance that she was only ever a phone call away should we need her. Thanks to her, Dad's passing was as pain free and peaceful as any of us could ever hope for.

We'll never be able to truly express how grateful we are to Macmillan for providing us with the comprehensive support we as a family needed at such a difficult time...but we, with your generosity, will try and pay back a little of what we owe to them.

£918 funds a Macmillan nurse for 1 week- and we can assure you, they're worth every single penny!

We want to help ensure that every family gets the great information and outstanding support from an incredibly knowledgeable, reassuring and lovely nurse when they need it most.

So please dig as deep as you can and sponsor Laura and Luke today- we guarantee your money will be well spent!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.