Two weeks after this picture was taken following the London Marathon Emma Horton died
A woman who ran the London Marathon for a cancer charity has died two weeks after the 26-mile run, not knowing that she was suffering from the disease.
Emma Horton, 35, felt ill on the day of the marathon but, spurred on by her husband and daughter who walked with her for the last few miles, she completed the run in seven hours and 50 minutes raising £4,500 for Cancer Research. Her husband, Dave, and daughter Libby, 10, confirmed that she passed away two weeks later at a hospital in Birmingham.
Mr Horton said that the fact she managed to complete the race was a tribute to her strength of character.
‘The doctors said
it was truly impossible for her to have done that. The week before, she hadn’t been well. She had hardly slept or even eaten, but we had put it down to stress. It turns out it was cancer. I do not know how she dragged herself around the marathon. It’s unbelievable.’
Mrs Horton could barely walk by the time she finished the marathon but, because she had completed it under eight hours, she could get her photograph taken.
Completing the marathon had been a dream of hers for the last seven years.
May 08, 2011 @ 21:49:05
Wow, that’s amazing yet incredibly touching at the same time. My condolences to the family. She sounds like an amazing mother and wife.