Nurse completes half marathon in memory of her friend

Melanie Hicks has completed the Reading Half Marathon, raising a fantastic £1,170 for transplant patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, in memory of her friend, colleague and neighbour Dawn Talbot.

Melanie said: “My lovely friend, Dawn, became ill suddenly in December 2013. She was quickly found to be in liver failure and was transferred to QEHB, where she was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

“She received her transplant on Christmas Day, but unfortunately her body rejected it and she was so unwell that she died on 11th January 2014, aged just 31. Dawn and her family were looked after amazingly by QEHB, and although they couldn’t change the outcome, they gave her the absolute best chance she could have had.

“January 2019 marked 5 years since Dawn’s death and I felt compelled to do something significant to mark this anniversary. As a nurse, I naturally want to help people and make a difference. Dawn was also a nurse so it seemed appropriate to celebrate her life by doing something to help others.

“I thought long and hard and then decided to sign up to the Reading Half Marathon- this was going to be a huge challenge for me personally as I have never exercised, but it needed to be a challenge to warrant people’s sponsorship. I signed up to the ‘Couch to 5k’ training plan and my journey began!

“On the day of the race, I surprised myself by loving every minute of it; the atmosphere was electric with people cheering us runners on along the entire route, live music playing on the streets and even children were standing outside their houses handing out Jelly Babies- it was amazing to see the community really come together to support each other.

“Plus, knowing that I was running in memory of Dawn, (and how much she would be laughing at me doing it), really spurred me on. I completed the course in a reasonable time of 2:18 and to date have raised £1,170.”

A happy Melanie pictured with her medal.

Roisin Mooney, Events Fundraising Assistant at QEHB Charity, said: “Huge congratulations go to Melanie for raising so much money and completing the Reading Half Marathon! It is wonderful that she decided to do something special to raise money in memory of her friend Dawn.

“The Charity provides ‘added extras’ for patients and staff at the hospital, and we are proud to fund the incredible work of the liver transplant team here at the hospital.”

You can donate to support Melanie’s fundraising here.

Thanks to the donations of the Ann Fox Foundation, the Charity was able to purchase a liver perfusion machine.

This machine could increase the number of liver transplants that take place at the hospital, as the machine cleans up donated livers before they are transplanted.

Read more about this amazing machine, and the life that it has already saved, here.