My daughter Hayley is terrified of heights so when her husband Rich got her up the CN Tower in Toronto Canada on their holiday in May 2018, her Dad and I were pleased he was helping her face her fears. Very sadly this was their last time away as on 9th June (2 weeks later) we suddenly lost Rich to an undiagnosed cardiac condition.
The following months have been devastating for both families but CRY have been amazing with their support so Hayley felt she wanted to do something personal to raise awareness and funds for them. She said to me that she was thinking of doing an abseil (as friends had done for other charities) knowing how Hayley is with heights but also that she wanted to do it for Rich, I said “well I can’t let you go up on your own I’ll do it with you”. Good old Mum!!
I thought it was absolutely brilliant but Hayley couldn’t get down quickly enough – we started off together but she beat me to the bottom as I was busy looking around. The rest of our family and Rich’s plus a group of friends were watching (in awe they told us) to make it down the 100m safely – then we all went for breakfast!
We had set up a Just Giving page with a £500 target – to date we have raised £1050, which means so many more young people will get their hearts screened. This was a contribution to Rich’s CRY Memorial Fund that was personal to Hayley, to be added to other events that have been held and donations given to reach a total of £25K (so far).