Skinny dipping in honour of my friend
Helen has seen first-hand the impact that cancer has on families and friends after two of her close friends sadly passed away from the disease. She decided to take on a different type of challenge to remember her friends and raise money for the area that cared for them in their final days.
She shares her story with us:
“I first met Marie when I helped start up the Clifton Doves Women’s Institute (WI), and you couldn’t help but smile when she was around. She did so much for other people and was always the first to sign up to something a bit bonkers, including partaking in a skinny dip. Sadly, Marie was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and last year, I lost my amazing friend far before her time should have been up.
At her funeral, a group of us made a pact to do our own skinny dip in her honour. It would have been easy for us to say that we’d do it and then conveniently forget about it, but we wanted to do Marie justice and honour her memory, so we’ve decided to go ahead with this incredibly cold challenge as part of an open water swim event at Spring Lakes.
Sadly, earlier this year, I also lost another friend, Mike, to cancer. I first met Mike as part of the West Bridgford Social Singers and he was a wonderful, kind and funny bass singer. He was so incredibly welcoming when I first joined the choir and was always so cheerful and friendly and he had an incredible wit.
After Bill Turnbull spoke openly about being diagnosed with prostate cancer on TV, Mike realised he had a lot of the symptoms, he went to the doctors and was later diagnosed with the very same cancer. He was incredibly stoic about it all and was a staunch campaigner to raise money to help fund further research to save others with the disease.
Both of my kind and funny friends received care through Hayward House towards the end of their lives, so I decided that taking on a sponsored swim to raise funds in their memories was a fitting tribute.
Cancer has left a lasting impact on myself and my family as I sadly lost my mum to it eight years ago. She didn’t live locally, but she was able to use similar services to those at Hayward House in her final months. Places like this offer so much care and comfort to those who are terminally ill as well as their families and I am so grateful for the work they do.”
We’re so grateful to Helen for taking on this unusual event, which was organised by Spring Lakes in Long Eaton. To make a donation to Helen's fundraising page, please click here.
If you would like to take on your own challenge, please click the button below to get in touch with our team.