40 tcf.org.uk TCF NEWS | FUNDRAISING ROUND-UP A warm thank you to all our fundraisers and donors - large and small. Fundraising Round-up The amazing Chris, Anna and Lucy Read have raised an incredible £22000 (and counting) for TCF in the 3 years they have been fundraising for our charity, in memory of their beloved son and Lucy’s brother, Michael Read. Here Chris shares his story and how facing new challenges has helped him cope with the death of his beloved son. “Like you, I tragically lost a child (or sibling or grandchild). And like you I was devastated by this and am now heartbroken. In October 2021 I lost my wonderful son Michael, aged 22, suddenly in a road traffic accident, and got the dreaded knock at the door by the police in the early hours of the morning. From that moment my life changed forever, meaning I will never be truly happy again. I have already had the happiest birthday, the happiest new year and the merriest Christmas and it’s tragic to think this. But in my case, I’m sure that this is the sad reality. About a week after that terrible day when I lost my son I was lying in bed after a broken night of sleep. My body felt too heavy to get up and I just couldn’t think of a reason to get out of bed. I turned the TV on and heard an article on the news reporting that the following year’s London Marathon was on the exact one year anniversary of Michael’s death: the 2nd of October 2022. I immediately felt a spark of something and decided at that moment that I wanted to take part to raise money for TCF; and then suddenly I did have a reason to get up. We had by this time already spoken to someone on the TCF helpline a couple of days after the accident who was amazing, and sharing stories with them definitely helped us to understand that we hadn’t been singled out and that by sharing our grief we weren’t alone. Although this help from TCF was invaluable, it didn’t cure us of the deep despair we were feeling. Instead, it left us feeling supported with this grief, which of course helped. So, with this new hint of a purpose and a tiny flicker of light within the deep darkness, I mentioned it to my wife Anna and our daughter Lucy. We then began to build a plan, and before I knew it I was out of bed, showered and dressed. Almost six months later the 3 of us were a few days away from the dreaded first anniversary date of losing Michael. However, by this time we each had secured a place in the virtual London Marathon, and had spent the previous 3 months training, setting up our fundraising page, organising the route we would run to complete the 26.2 miles, and also gathering the support of a number of friends and family to join us in running sections of the route. How fundraising has helped the Read family
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