Northampton widower and his late wife's nurse raise thousands in London marathon effort

Trevor Hardwell of West Hunsbury lost his wife, Ros, to breast cancer in January 2017 and signed up to race his first 26-miles last year to help give back to one of the charities who supported the duo.

This year, the 68-year-old did not race alone, instead, he teamed up with Lisa Whelan, Ros's former Cynthia Spencer Hospice nurse, who cared for her before she died.

Lisa Whelan, 47, of Hardingstone, has worked for Cynthia Spencer Hospice for four years as a community specialist palliative care nurse.

Prior to that, she worked for over 25 years on the oncology and palliative care ward at Northampton General Hospital.

Lisa raced on Sunday to fundraise for the hospice and has so far been given £3,577 in donations while Trevor has raised £2,500 for MacMillan Cancer Support.

The pair completed the marathon in just under seven hours after Lisa sustained an injury half-way, and decided to take it slower.

But the valiant pair still crossed the finish line and between them have raised £6,000 for cancer charities, in memory of Ros.

"In the last two to three kilometres we ran it to the finish line and she got very emotional towards the end, " Trevor said. "We got over the finish line and we got a medal and got her back to her family.

"She was so pleased to have got through it.

"It was a good day."

Trevor added: "Last year I was on my own but the crowd were fantastic.

"This year they were fantastic too, and to run with someone else who was so determined, and with the injuries she had, was so inspiring.

"She was determined to keep going and she would not stop."

Trevor is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support as Ros was also very fond of another nurse called Ruth who paid her regular visits during her chemotherapy treatment while she was in hospital. Ruth then put Lisa in touch with Trevor and Ros to carry out home visits, and their friendship blossomed.