Running the London marathon in memory of Laura
Thursday 1 September 2022
Mike Barnes, aged 70, from Preston, is running the London Marathon 2022 in memory of his daughter who passed away from bowel cancer in December 2019.
My name is Mike Barnes and in a moment of madness I decided to run the London Marathon for charity in 2022. I think I ran once for a bus but that’s about the extent of my previous exercise! There was no doubt in my mind what charity to support, as just over two years ago my eldest daughter Laura passed away from bowel cancer.
Laura discovered she had stage 4 bowel cancer just after having given birth to twin girls. During the two years of treatment, she never gave up hope and continued to be the amazing person that she was. Laura inspired the people she met and stayed positive throughout, never ever complaining. She was a brilliant mum to her three girls and insisted on doing everything that a mum of three has to do. Her oldest is now eight and the twins are five. They are all extremely proud of their mum and often talk about her amongst friends and family. My running the London Marathon is just another element of showing them how much everyone thought of their mum.
The courage Laura showed throughout her illness was amazing – so I just take my lead from Laura’s example and will attempt to run the London Marathon. I should mention that the other element of the challenge is that this year also happens to be my platinum birthday (matching the number of years the Queen has been on the throne) which may make me the ‘Grandad’ of the bowel cancer runners!
When I applied for a charity place with Bowel Cancer UK to join their London Marathon team, I quite cheerfully agreed to raising £2,500 but as the date got closer, I started to fear that I wouldn’t make it. I needn’t have worried as friends and family soon began to donate. To be honest, I think it was more in remembrance of Laura’s inspiration than for my attempt, but I can live with that! Having set up a JustGiving page I always try to thank the people who have donated, if they have left their email address. I also decided that if I knew their postal address, I would send them a postcard which my son-in-law designed with a picture of Laura, a background of the London Marathon and the Bowel Cancer UK logo, just to say thank you so much for their donations.
I also volunteer for transporting patients for the North West Ambulance service, very often transporting patients with cancer either to hospital or home. Very often the conversation in the car turns to the London Marathon and the generosity of the people I transport is amazing.
I’m very much a spur of the moment person, (sometimes foolhardily, much to the annoyance of my family!). Each week opportunities arise where I think: “I could add to my donations by doing something.” I was recently the MC for the annual village festival – a great opportunity to plug the JustGiving page! I had the microphone (haha) and true to form the donations started to come in.
My youngest daughter is expecting in August and doesn’t know the sex of the baby! Sat amongst friends last weekend, I thought: “why not run a book on the sex, day, and weight for £5 a guess?” So, I set it up! All contributions are going towards the JustGiving page – the prize is the pride of knowing that you won! I also volunteer helping elderly people with using iPads and computers as very often they have them bought by relatives but can’t use them. What better way to show them how to find their way around the internet than looking for a JustGiving page? I don’t charge for helping them, so they donate quite happily towards the funds. Without really organizing any big event, the total has been met and continues to grow. Who knows when the next opportunity will arise? But it will.
Am I looking forward to the marathon?
Today I saw a challenge and decided to face it with positivity. It was my choice to face it that way - Laura Stephenson
Why wouldn’t I take her example?
Over the past two years, Mike has raised more than £7,600 for Bowel Cancer UK in memory of his daughter, Laura. He has also set up a Star of Hope Fund in celebration of her life. Laura’s Star of Hope Fund is a special place for friends and family to gather online, share memories, leave thoughts, post photos, videos and music, fundraise and donate in her memory. Find out more information about setting up a Star of Hope Fund for your loved one.
If you’ve been inspired by Mike, you can apply to join our 2024 London Marathon team here.
