Warwick fundraiser taking on 500-mile charity pilgrimage in memory of her family members

A fundraiser from Warwick is embarking on a 500-mile charity challenge in memory of two family members.

Earlier this month Shelley Garland started her challenge, whereby she is walking the 500-mile pilgrimage on the way of St James' - also known as The Camino.

Shelley, who works at Warringtons of Warwick, is taking on the challenge to help raise money for Sarcoidosis UK in memory of her daughter Suzi Garland and her ex-husband Jay.

Suzi was diagnosed with Neurosarcoidosis after experiencing 14 years of neurological symptoms including vision problems, tumours, headaches and seizures.

Suzi died in March aged 32, she was engaged to be married and looking forward to finally having a specialist treatment plan she needed to resolve her health issues.

As well as facing the devastating loss of Suzi Shelley and her family were then faced with more heartbreak when Jay, Suzi's dad, died in July aged 53 just two weeks after receiving his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Shelley said: "Over the last year as a family we have faced an incredibly traumatic journey which has changed our lives forever.

"To loose Suzi was a pain which I cannot describe.

"I can only imagine the pain that Jay was feeling, masking the pain of his own illness for many months. To loose Jay too, to pancreatic cancer, so quickly after Suzi has devastated us all.

"Before we knew of Jay's illness we had decided that as a family, we were going to raise awareness and money for Neurosarcoidosis - the cruel disease that took Suzi from us.

"So far Suzi and Jay's story has raised a staggering amount thanks to the generosity of the wonderful friends, family and colleagues that their beautiful souls touched throughout their young lives."

Around £8,500 was raised from donations from friends, families and work colleagues after Suzi’s story was shared by Shelley and her family and this total then went up to around £16,000 after Jay died as one of his wishes was to have donations to Suzi’s Page rather than flowers at his funeral.

Shelley and her family said they want to continue to raise money for the charity and so Shelley has decided to take on a personal pilgrimage of walking 500 miles on the way of St James' - The Camino.

The Camino de Santiago (known in English as the ‘Way of Stt James’) which is a pilgrimage leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galacia in Spain.

During one of Suzi’s surgeries she suffered her first cardiac arrest and as Suzi was coming round, Shelley was in her fiancé Phil's study, which is decorated with maps of the world over all of the walls, for a moment of distraction Shelley placed her finger randomly on the map and landed on the Santiago de Compostela, she then looked it up and that is when she learnt of the Camino Way.

After Suzi passed away, Shelley heard stories of ’the Camino’ on the radio and on tv shows and soon realised it was something she had to do.

She said: "I discovered knowledge of the Camino during one of the many worse days of Suzi's illness and felt it became a distraction and comfort during those dark days, a 'calling' if you like.

"I will be walking alone for 33 days or so."

Shelley started her Pilgrimage on August 7.

She said: "Although this is a personal journey that I am undertaking, I hope it can continue to raise awareness and vital funds that Sarcoidosis UK needs to help find a cure for Neurosarcoidosis.

"It would be incredible to reach £20,000 which will make such a huge difference to Sarcoidosis UK."

Sofi Garland, Shelley's daughter and Suzi's sister added: "We do hope to keep raising funds and awareness indefinitely, other family and extended family members are planning fundraisers for in the future.

"It brings us comfort knowing what Suzi and Jay went through can bring some good to others as they were both such selfless, giving people.

"It took 14 years for Suzi to be diagnosed with Neurosarcoidosis, sadly too late to save her life.

"She was so determined to not let her symptoms hold her back in life - epilepsy, auras, headaches and so on.

"However if we had known what it was she was really dealing with then perhaps her disease could have been managed earlier and she would still be with us.

"That is why we want to raise as much awareness and funding as possible for the charity Sarcoidosis UK- so that Sarcoidosis can become more well-known in the medical profession and can be detected earlier for people.

"We would also like thank everyone for their support with the fundraising so far."

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/team/teamgarland