A lady from Louth has signed up to the St Barnabas Inflatable Colour Dash in memory of her dad who died of cancer
Following a surge in sign-ups to this year’s Inflatable Colour Dash, Lisa Reynolds, has shared her reasons for signing up to support St Barnabas Hospice, two years after her dad’s funeral.
Lisa, age 38 and originally from Louth, said:
“I’m not the fittest of people, but I really wanted to raise money for St Barnabas Hospice to enable staff to help families through these heart-breaking and very difficult times.
“The Inflatable Colour Dash is being held on Saturday 12th May – two years to the day since my dad’s funeral. It is the perfect opportunity for me to raise money for such a great cause.”
The Inflatable Colour Dash is a 5k untimed fun run which will see participants splattered from head to toe in environmentally friendly coloured powder paint, with brand new inflatable obstacles at each kilometre.
Lisa said:
“My dad was an amazing man who worked hard to provide for his family. He lived and worked in Louth and was well known because he used to have a business selling beds in the town.
“It was a huge shock when we received the news that he was going to die – we are a very close family.
“My daughter, Ruby, was the light of his life when she was born, and she often talks about Grandad Ray being in the sky.
Lisa’s dad, Ray, was diagnosed with lung cancer which spread to his bones. In March 2016, the St Barnabas Hospice at Home nurses came to care for Ray at home, and he sadly died within five weeks of the diagnosis.
Lisa said:
“The care from St Barnabas was first class. They worked hard to ensure that my dad was as comfortable as possible in his final weeks, days and hours.
“Not only did they care for my dad, they were also there for the whole family. We would look forward to their visits every day as it was a relief for us to be able to talk about how we were feeling.
“Without the St Barnabas nurses offering their support through Dad’s short illness, I believe that we would have struggled to cope as well as we did. Having Dad at home was very stressful, but he was where he should have been, with his family that he loved very much and who loved him equally in return.”
“I think that Dad would have been proud of our fundraising as he fully appreciated all the hard work that St Barnabas did in order for him to stay at home with his family.”
Early bird tickets to the Colour Dash will cost £20 for adults, £10 for children (age 5 to 15), and £50 for a family (two adults, two children). These are available until 2nd March from www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/CD18.