Riverside walk dedicated to memory of brave Hollie

As a four-year-old she was featured in a picture with Diana

AN ANNUAL riverside walk will be dedicated to a Ruislip schoolgirl who was famously photographed with the late Diana Princess of Wales.

Hollie Robinson Marsh was aged four and being treated for leukaemia at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, when she was visited by the Princess in August 1997.

It turned out to be Diana’s last royal engagement before her untimely death in a Paris car crash, and the image of her with Hollie later featured on a commemorative coin.

Though Hollie, from Harrow, fought off the disease and went on to attend Queensmead School in South Ruislip, she was told on her 21st birthday that her cancer had returned. She died on September 13 last year aged 21.

Family friend Kerry McCarthy from Northolt is dedicating her annual walk on July 26 to Hollie, with the event raising funds for Children with Cancer UK, a charity that was close to her heart.

The eight mile walk, which has taken place for the last 16 years, starts at Richmond Lock and takes the walkers – including Hollie’s friends and family – through the picturesque Kew Gardens to Chiswick Bridge, where the team stop for lunch before the return leg.

Kerry’s daughter was treated alongside Hollie at Northwick Park and was devastated to hear of her relapse and passing.

She originally organised the walk to raise funds for the children’s hospital, but it soon became an annual event and has raised thousands of pounds for various charities.

Kerry said: “My daughter Hayley and Hollie became friends through their time spent together in hospital and remained in contact ever since. When Princess Diana visited the hospital Hayley and Hollie were both chosen to meet her.

“Hollie was a very special girl and she’ll be in our thoughts when we complete the walk this year.”

Kerry added: “At a time like that you always wish there was somethingmething you can do. There usually isn’t but raising money ney for a charityty she was as raising money ey for is one way.ay.

“When n Hollie was really ill she was still trying too help Children with Cancer UK. If she can do that whilehil h havingi chemotherapy we thought the least we could do is raise money.”

To donate on the JustGiving page, visit: http://alturl.com/st4i8.