Stamford father will run the London Marathon for Sue Ryder in memory of his wife

A father-of two will tackle his second London Marathon in memory of his wife.

Sam McCormick will be raising money for Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough when he pounds the streets this weekend.

The team there cared for his wife Hannah, 32, before she died of cervical cancer in January.

Sam, 34, who is deputy head academic at Stamford High School, set a £10,000 target.

He said: “Whatever I raise will never be enough to repay Sue Ryder for what they did for our family.

“I will never be able to put into words how much the team helped us and it will be an honour to raise money by running the marathon for them.”

Hannah was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in March 2019 when she was pregnant with her second child and her daughter Beatrix was two-and-a-half.

Although chemotherapy was successful, by June 2020 Hannah was feeling unwell again and a scan confirmed the cancer had returned in her lymph nodes.

Further chemotherapy was successful and Hannah felt better through spring 2021, but by the end of May she had developed a persistent cough and a further scan confirmed the cancer had spread to her lungs.

She was admitted to Thorpe Hall Hospice on December 30, 2021 and died two weeks later.

Sam said: “The Sue Ryder team were all amazing. They probably don’t even realise the impact they have.

“The nursing assistants were truly amazing, taking the time to sit and talk to Hannah, making her feel safe and comfortable, even at 2am when she was scared and needed reassurance.

“They made sure Hannah had a slightly larger room because we had the children. It had just been Christmas so they gave the children some chocolate coins when they came in to visit so they didn’t feel it was a scary place.

"It has been an incredibly difficult time for the children and little things like that made such a massive difference.”

Sam has already beaten his £10,000 target before taking to the start line.