Marathon effort in memory of young daughter

Simon Cross took on the endurance challenges – which equated to more than 170 miles in total – to raise money for a charity which helped his daughter, Hannah.

When You Wish Upon a Star is close to Simon’s heart as it helped to create memories which will last forever between him and Hannah, who battled an aggressive soft tissue cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.

Between Hannah’s chemotherapy treatments, which began in 2012, the charity supported Hannah and her family by taking her on a magical trip to Lapland and a visit to the popular Harry Potter studios – home to one of her favourite fictional characters.

Simon said: “Hannah was the inspiration behind my plan to run so many half marathons; she faced so many challenges during her two years of treatment and was incredibly brave.

“I chose to run 13 half marathons to celebrate each of the 13 years we shared with Hannah before she was taken away from us.

“The memories created during this dark time by When You Wish Upon a Star remain important to me, including how much she enjoyed seeing the animals in Lapland.”

He added: “I miss Hannah every single day – the pain will never go, it will just become more manageable. She has, and continues to, inspire me in life. Despite the absolute heartbreak of losing her, I wanted to keep her name and memory alive somehow. 

“Throughout her relatively short life, Hannah had shown how caring and considerate she could be and was always wanting to help others.

“I wanted to carry that on for her and am pleased I managed to complete all 13 half marathons in her memory.”

Simon is getting close to his fundraising target of £1,000.

l To support Simon’s marathon effort visit www.justgiv
ing.com/Simon-Cross8.