My name is Tara Challenor and I came into contact with CRY when my sister Therese died in 1997 at the age of 16.
Therese, my brother Tom and myself had been on holiday at Butlins in Minehead with our Church. On the 4th day I had seen Therese and had been chatting to her. We went our separate ways and 2 minutes later she collapsed and never regained consciousness. She was airlifted to hospital but was declared dead on arrival. We have never had a specific cause of death, which has been so hard to deal with. Until that day she had been a healthy fit girl who enjoyed dancing and sport. We could not understand how someone could just die and the doctors couldn’t tell us why. We thought that what happened to Therese was very rare until my Mum saw Alison Cox on ‘This Morning’ talking about CRY.
Therese’s death affected my family greatly and we were never the same again. It was wonderful to find CRY though because it showed us we are not alone and it has given us something positive in our lives. I find a lot of comfort in raising money and awareness for CRY because it helps me feel that I am helping other families in the same situation as mine, that I am trying to stop this happening to other people like Therese, and keeping her memory alive.
I have put on charity events for the last 27 years including shows, quizzes, concerts, themed evenings. Our local area has managed to raise over 50,000 and we have managed to put on one CRY heart screening event and another one is due this year at Therese’s old secondary school. Doing all of this helps me to feel like I am doing something for Therese.
I miss Therese each day. She was beautiful, so full of life, loving, kind and funny – and should not have died.
I am very proud to be CRY’s Representative for Kent.
If you would like to contact one of our Representatives or a Bereavement Supporter please call the CRY office at 01737 363222 or e-mail [email protected] and we will put you in touch with someone who may be able to help you.
