Family complete marathon cycle (From Warrington Guardian)

Family complete marathon cycle

3:50pm Monday 20th August 2012 in News

THE brother of a 15-year-old Penketh girl who died six months after she was diagnosed with epilepsy said he thinks his sister would have been proud of the family’s marathon efforts.

Felicity Farrell’s dad and three brothers took on the 1,000-mile journey from Copenhagen to Warrington in 14 days on their bikes to raise cash and awareness for charity Epilepsy Action and crossed the finishing line outside the Town Hall.

Known to her family and friends as Fliss, the St Gregory’s RC High School pupil died in her sleep in 2008 after suffering a suspected epileptic fit during the night.

The Bringing Home the Bacon bike ride was created after Fliss’ eldest brother Tan, aged 30, moved to Copenhagen to live with his Danish girlfriend and decided to cycle home to Old Hall this summer with Fliss’ dad Kevin, aged 54 and brothers Seb, aged 29, and Alex, aged 26.

Former St Gregory’s pupil Seb said: “Spending two weeks with your family made us closer but it was also very stressful at times.

“I think Fliss would have been very proud of us all and surprised we had got together as a family.

“We were always close but we never went on family holidays so two weeks across Europe would have been quite a shock to her!

“But I’m sure she would have been beaming with pride particularly at her older brother Tan cycling the whole thousand miles.”

Seb, who works as a cancer charity fundraising manager, said the group were delighted to have raised more than £8,000 for charity and everyone was relieved when the challenge was over.

He added: “We were quite emotional on the last day and we would often wonder ‘Why are we doing this?’ but then we would think of Fliss and it became easier.

“I never thought I would be so emotional about seeing Warrington signs.”

The family are now considering another challenge for next year.