Mum and daughter race in memory of loved one
SUFFOLK: For more than 20 years Stan Faulkner made walking sticks and generously donated all the money to a cancer charity.
Little did he know that at the age of 86, in a cruel twist of fate, that the disease would end his life just five months after being diagnosed.
A year on from his death, his daughter, Andrena Catesby, from Otley, has decided to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life.
She will be joined by her 34-year-old daughter, Fiona, at the 5km event, which is set to take place in Chantry Park, on June 13.
Mrs Catesby, 60, is still distraught after losing her beloved father, who had been in perfect health up until then.
She said: “My father was a fit, healthy, socially active 86-year-old. We thought he would live forever.
“He spent a lot of his spare time making walking sticks, which he auctioned or raffled with all proceeds ironically going to Cancer Research.
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“We never knew why he chose that charity as there had been no cancer in our family before.
“I helped the Marie Curie nurses throughout his last painfully agonising eight days. Nothing prepared me for that dreadful situation. He said he wanted to die at home and faded away. I loved him dearly and shall never forget him.
“My daughter said we have got to help other people, so that they do not have to go through what we went through.”
Mr Faulkner, who used to own a childrenswear wholesale company in Yorkshire, started making walking sticks when he retired and made in excess of 2,000, raising around �25,000.
Last year he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe). He was given six to 12 months to live but died on September 23 after five months.
He also leaves behind his wife, Mena, son Christopher, and 15-month-old grandchild Charlie.
There is another Race for Life in Ipswich at Trinity Park on July 7. If you want to enter either of the events, visit www.raceforlife.org
n Are you taking part in an event for a special reason? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@evening star.co.uk
n Opinion – page 6
