Preston mum who died of cancer aged 36 will be celebrated when former headteacher dad runs London Marathon

An inspirational retired primary school headteacher is taking on the London Marathon to raise awareness of bowel cancer in memory of his daughter.

Laura Stephenson died in December 2019 when she was just 36 years old, having given birth to identical twin girls Sophie and Naomi just 18 months earlier. She was set to start on an immunotherapy trial at the Christie Hospital in Manchester before she died, and now her dad will run to raise money for them.

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Mike Barnes, 71, who lives with wife Julia in Goosnargh, said: “The treatment that Laura received at The Christie was excellent and she worked so hard to stay positive and encourage others to do the same. Laura was due to start a special trial and attended several consultations - in fact one of the senior consultants said to her, ‘We are going to throw everything we have at this – Is that ok?’  which is exactly what Laura wanted to hear. She came very close to going on the trial, but sadly she developed an infection, so the trial had to be paused and she tragically passed away shortly afterwards.”

Laura, her husband Mark, their six-year-old daughter Heidi and the twins lived together in Preston. After Laura died, Mike decided he wanted to raise awareness of bowel cancer and raise funds to help research and support those currently affected by cancer, as well as promoting the memory of his daughter.

"Moment of madness"

He said: “I decided I wanted to start fundraising, but I wasn’t very good at cake sales, jumble sales or organising events so I thought maybe I could run - after all it’s only putting one foot in front of the other! I was unsure how I could do this until I had a ‘moment of madness’ in the new year of 2022 and thought ‘why not run the London Marathon’, even though I had not really run any distance further than down the road to the Post Office!”

Headteacher

After studying drama at what is now Middlesex University and teaching in three schools in London, Mike, his wife and their three daughters moved up north 25 years ago to take up a headship at Goosnargh Oliverson’s CE Primary School. Mike was also headteacher at Broad Oak, Scotforth St Paul’s and Flakefleet primary schools. He now volunteers for the North West Ambulance Service and manages to fit training into his busy schedule.

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“I mostly train on my own around the country lanes of my village, as well as running with a local running group, Lions Community running group on a Wednesday,” he said. “The more I run, the more I realise that the runners around me are some of the best people you could ever wish to meet.  My fundraising has just blown me away. The generosity in the current climate has been extraordinary – it’s an amazing privilege.” 

Since Mike started running, he has raised over £26,000 for cancer charities, which he says is due to the fantastic generosity from friends, family and the running community. To support Mike’s fundraising for The Christie, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MikeBarnes4