WHEN Joan McCallum lost her husband John to leukaemia she was thankful for the support of a charity who were always on the end of the phone.
And now she is hoping to find a fit, young person to help her raise money for that charity.
Mrs McCallum is appealing for someone to run the Great North Run for Leukaemia Care in memory of her late husband John.
At the age of 75, and despite knowing Olympic runner Derek Ibbotson as a teenager, she feels she is too old to don her trainers and run a half marathon herself.
So she is hoping a kind-hearted Huddersfield runner will take part for her and John.
“If I could do it I would,” she joked. “I do what I can for the charity because they are there for the family.
“They phoned me after John died which I really appreciated.
“They need 100 runners and I hope that we can find someone to run because it will really help them.”
Mr McCallum was well-known in Huddersfield until his death in September 2007.
For six years he ran the dance sessions for the University of the Third Age at the St Patrick’s Centre.
The 83-year-old was involved in the D-Day landings and later worked as an engineer and bus driver in Halifax.
He met his wife-to-be Joan through the U3A in 1993 and they married in 1995.
Between her and her late husband, they have nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
But by 1998 Mr McCallum was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a form of leukaemia affecting the bone marrow.
Mrs McCallum added: “I’d have looked after John for as long as I could.
“He managed 10 years having chemotherapy and blood transfusions.
“It was a struggle for us both but family do what they can.
“We appreciated the help we got from Leukaemia Care because they thought about us.”
Mrs McCallum wrote to Examiner reporter Adrian Sudbury during his fight against leukaemia.
And she says that anything that can be raised for charities will benefit so many other people too.
To apply for a place on the half marathon call 0845 521 3456 or www.raise4leukaemia.org.uk
