Jane Tomlinson, the tireless campaigner who raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and who has died, seven years later, aged 43.
Mrs Tomlinson underwent a mastectomy in 1990, and in 2000 was told that her cancer was incurable and that she probably had just six months to live.
Instead of giving in to the illness, she put herself through a series of endurance tests, including marathons, triathlons and a 4,200-mile bike ride across the United States, raising a total of £1.75m for a variety of causes. She was awarded a CBE for charitable services earlier this year.
Her family announced yesterday that she had died in St Gemma's Hospital, Leeds, on Monday evening. Her husband, Mike, and children Suzanne, 21, Rebecca, 19, and Steven, 10, issued a statement promising to keep up the popular 10km race through Leeds that she inaugurated.
They said: "We are, as a family heartbroken at this loss, but we know this extends to all her family and friends. Jane has always said her family has been the greatest joy in life, and we feel honoured to have been blessed with such a wonderful person.
"The weight of this burden has been immense on all of us, but primarily Jane. We hope she is now at peace from the pain that has accompanied her for so long."
They added that it had come as a complete surprise to them when she took out gym membership soon after being told her condition was terminal. "It seemed, on the face of it, massively out of character. It is to her remarkable achievement that it became the norm."
One of her last public appearances was in June, when about 8,000 runners took part in the 10km charity run through Leeds. Though too ill to run the course, Mrs Tomlinson signalled the start of the event and waved each participant across the starting line.
She shocked some people by putting herself through events that would have been testing for people of her age even if they were fully fit. Her 63-day bike ride across America left her seriously ill, as she endured increasing pain from liver cancer. She was also disappointed that lack of interest from the US media meant she raised only £100,000, well short of what she had hoped for.
After she and her husband had completed the Great North Run in October 2002, it was announced that she would not run any more races, but concentrate on her medical treatment and spending time with the family. But the following year, she resumed her activities by cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End.
A public battle
May 2001: Completes 5km 'race for life' after months of chemotherapy
April 2002: Runs London marathon in 4 hours, 53 minutes
Aug 2002: First terminally ill person to complete a London triathlon
Oct 2002: Completes Great North Run in one hour, 51 minutes
March-April 2003: Cycles from John O'Groats to Land's End
Poker, Football (Soccer), Fast cars, Reading, Films and having as much fun as possible!
Sports:
Leeds United, England in football, and Mike Matusow in poker.
Music:
Evanescence, Guns N' Roses, Korn, James Blunt, Prince, Green Day, Ozzy Osbourne, Sissor Sisters, AC/DC, Maroon 5, Anastacia, Celine Dion, Gomez, Snow Patrol, Alice Cooper, The Kooks,The Feeling, Fat Boy Slim, Eminem, Arctic Monkeys, Aerosmith, Ugly Kid Joe and much, much more.
Movies:
Shawshank Redemption, XXX, The Ringer, Harvey, The Pacifier, Green Mile, Sea Biscuit, Goldmember, Gone in 60 Seconds, Snatch, Transporter, SAW 1,2,3 Happy Gilmore, Meet The Fockers, Shrek 1&2 Bruce Almighty, and BASIC.
TV:
24, Law and Order, Blue Murder, Wire in the Blood, Shameless, Bad Girls, The District, Touching Evil, House, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You, QI, Heroes. Oh, and any poker I can find.
Books:
Misery, Dead Head, The Long Walk, Bravo 2 Zero, The Green Mile. Anything factual.....
Reading the whole Patricia Cornwell series at the mo.
