Friday 1 September 2017

One day one photo - 1: Remembering Charlotte Easton

Charlie liked sunflowers

Now is the time when I do the series of daily photos during the month of September. Sadly, the 1st day of the series will always be synonymous with the loss of a dear friend and fellow racer, Charlotte Easton. It is exactly a year to the day since she passed away. I still find it completely absurd that she has gone.

Charlotte was only 36 years old, and succumbed to breast cancer, having battled against it since early 2012. The irony is Charlie was so fit and healthy. She had been an elite rower and then became an elite cycle racer, training and racing hard. She hardly ever drank, and she never smoked. At the time that she received the diagnosis she was training for the London Marathon and was raising money for a cancer charity as her parents had both battled the disease.

Cancer doesn't discriminate, though. It can affect anyone, and indeed with Charlie having the BRCA2 gene mutation this meant she was at a greater risk of developing than the rest of the population of developing cancer. Hence the face that it ran through the family. Although both her parents had battled and survived the disease, Charlie's battle ended prematurely.

She was a real fighter and was always up for a challenge, as could be seen in the way she raced hard. When we learned of the diagnosis we always thought that Charlie would fight this disease in the same way she raced and she would overcome it. But it wasn't to be. In any case, I still have a lot of admiration for Charlie, and for me she will always be amazing and inspirational.
Charlie really liked sunflowers. Whenever I see any they remind me of Charlie. I planted some in my garden earlier this year, and I have been impressed at how they have blossomed and grown to over 9 feet high. They're amazing - just like Charlotte Easton was.



Related Posts
Ciao Charlotte Easton



No comments: