Fife woman to run in city half marathon in memory of her brother

Rachel's brother Gregor. Rachel is taking part in the Edinburgh Half Marathon in May 2020 to raise money in his memory.

Rachel Smith (22) will be running a half marathon in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival on May 24, for the charity Meningitis Now to honour her brother Gregor, who died when they were both teenagers.

She hopes that as well as raising funds for the charity, she will raise awareness to prevent others from going through what she and her family went through when the teenager passed away within just hours of falling ill.

Gregor was just 13-years-old when he woke up on February 24, 2013 with a high temperature and sore legs,” she said.

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Rachel said: “He then grew weaker, and at midday he was taken to A&E where he was diagnosed with a viral bug and sent home. “

Gregor then returned to A&E three hours later as a rash had started to spread over his body.

He passed away six hours later with his family at his side, the cause being meningococcal septicaemia.”

Seven years on and Rachel is looking forward to taking part in the race in memory of her brother, who was a keen footballer and member of the local football club.

“I feel as though the work that the charity do, especially raising awareness around the symptoms of meningitis, is extremely vital,” she said.

“If the symptoms had been recognised earlier in that day, Gregor would still be with us today. Life is hard every day, having someone so important taken away from you, but doing events like this keeps their memory alive and also raises money for a great cause.”

She continued: “Gregor’s Forever Fund provides a place where people can go and donate to the page, read his story, and it really helps keep Gregor’s memory alive,” she said. “This has been a great source of comfort for myself and my family.”

Viv Jones, Meningitis Now’s community fundraiser and events assistant for Scotland, said she hoped Rachel’s story would inspire others to sign up and take part in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival.

To take part or find out more please visit the charity’s website at www.meningitisnow.org/