Worthing hospice launches new Sunrise to Remember sponsored walk
and live on Freeview channel 276
Worthing couple Hayden Curtis, 25, and Tia Talbot, 20, have signed up to walk 20km in memory of Hayden’s mum, Emma Mccourty, who was cared for by the hospice before she passed away ten years ago at the age of 42.
The sponsored walk on June 25 will set off from Worthing Leisure Centre at 4.15am and continue from darkness into the sunrise on a choice of the 10km or 20km route through the tree-lined paths of Worthing, across fields, down rivers and along the beautiful coastline.
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Hide AdFor walkers like Hayden, Sunrise to Remember will be an emotional, as well as a physical challenge.He said: "My mum was a very, very funny lady and one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever known. She was so family orientated, she would do anything for any of us.
"I have two children, Ivy who is three months and Luna who is almost six. Meaning, my mum now has six grandchildren, and I know how happy that would make her.”
Hayden was just 15 when he lost his mum to cancer in 2012. To mark the ten-year anniversary of her death, he has signed up to the Sunrise to Remember challenge in her memory.
He explained: "I wanted to sign up to the walk to say thank you to St Barnabas. When Mum went into the hospice, I didn’t really have a full understanding of what was going on, or what a hospice was because I was young. But now, looking back, I have a full understanding and I am so appreciative of everything they did for us.
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Hide Ad"Raising money for St Barnabas would mean everything to me as they looked after her so much in her last days.”
Emma spent her final few days at St Barnabas House.
Hayden said: "Mum was in the best place she could’ve been when she died. Being at the hospice gave us a lot more time to spend with her.
"Nothing was ever rushed at the hospice, we always had as much time with Mum as we needed and, afterwards, they gave us time with her to grieve.”
Hayden said if his Mum had heard about him taking on Sunrise to Remember, she would have laughed."I’m not the most athletic person, so I know she would find it funny," he said.
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Hide Ad"But she would have loved it, too. Knowing that I’m doing something to help and give back to the hospice would have meant the world to her.”
Hayden and Tia have so far raised more than £300 of their £500 target. Visit www.justgiving.com/haydecurtis to donate.
Registration for Sunrise to Remember is £25 per person and £15 for children under 14. There is also a family ticket available for £65. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Find out more and register at www.stbh.org.uk/sunrisetoremember.