Our "Why"

In December 2024 our very dear friend Toni was diagnosed with bowel cancer. By mid January we were given the devastating news that it was terminal and that she had decided to refuse treatment, during this time she had been moved from Basildon hospital to Southend Hospital. Her wish since making that decision was to get back close to her family in Basildon so she made a self referral to St Luke’s Hospice.

This wish was granted less than a week after moving to Southend.

Having never visited a hospice before, we didn’t really know what to expect. The hospice staff were incredibly welcoming and friendly. You could see that Toni, along with her family and us friends, were being treated with respect, warmness and sensitivity. For anyone residing at the hospice, it’s a very sad time as we all know what the purpose of the hospice is, but it was instantly clear why Toni had chosen to be there - her loved ones could visit whenever they wanted 24 hours a day, there were no wards, beeping medical machines or chaos like there can be in a hospital - it was calm. Even witnessing a consultant speak to Toni, he was as professional as he was compassionate and caring.

Unfortunately and quite unexpectedly, Toni was only in the hospice for 5 days. We have chosen to run for St Luke’s because we know how much it meant to Toni to be near her children and to be in an environment as close to being at home, without being at home, in her final days.

St Luke’s provided a quiet, restful place for her. It absolutely breaks our hearts that we are having to write these words and honestly think we’re all still in disbelief that this even happened - but also know how proud Toni would be of us running a marathon (again!) - she was the most supportive friend and we want to do everything we can to keep her memory alive. We witnessed many people visiting patients at the hospice and our hearts go out to all them knowing exactly what they’re all going through. The hospice provides a great sense of community to those who visit day after day - to see a friendly face, have a cup of tea and just breathe.

We were so humbled to find out that St Luke’s relies solely on donations and it’s amazing the work that they all do. We want to help the hospice continue to make a difference to anyone who is sadly going through a situation like ours as it added a little bit of light to those very dark days.

Finally!

We are so grateful to have a place on Team St Luke’s and are super excited to run London together - both having run marathons independently over the last few years, FINALLY we get live our dream of crossing that iconic finish line as a team!

And being given the opportunity to run for this fantastic charity is just the icing on the cake!