Challenge in memory of beautiful Marsha
GRIEVING BOYFRIEND TO RAISE MONEY FOR RVI WARD
IT’S a journey he’d hoped to take with the love of his life by his side.
But now heartbroken Owen Pringle will walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall with the support of his friends in memory of his “beautiful” girlfriend who died of a mystery illness at just 27.
Hairdresser Marsha Heslop, from Bedlington, died in November last year after suddenly falling ill while on a wild camping holiday in Scotland with Owen.
After being checked out at a local hospital, doctors in Scotland attributed the reaction to an allergy and she was discharged.
But Owen knew Marsha wasn’t herself and after driving eight hours home to the North East, she was admitted to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, where she was put into an induced coma.
But a raft of tests failed to find out what was wrong, and after four weeks of fighting, Marsha died.
Soldier Owen had hoped to marry Marsha in 2021, but instead he’s this year striving to raise money in her memory.
Marsha’s loved ones have already collected over £8,000 for Ward 18 at the RVI, where she was treated, through a Just Giving page.
Owen and some of his close pals also raised more than £5,000 when they announced their plans to walk the whole of the Roman wall in just three days for Marsha. The trip was delayed due to lockdown, but with the ‘stay at home’ order now lifted, Owen is preparing to set off.
The 29-year-old said: “We want to try to help out the ward so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“We’re leaving [on Thursday] at 6am heading for Bowness on Solway: it’s meant to take seven days but we’re going to try and do it in three.
“[The walk] was something she wanted to do.”
The gruelling challenge will see Owen and a few of his closest friends try to cover over 20 miles each day, with a challenging aim to walk 32 miles on the first day.
But the effort will be worth it for Marsha, and for the “amazing” Ward 18 staff, who “deserve everything”, Owen said.
After she died, Marsha’s loved ones praised the hospital staff for their “compassionate, professional, dedicated, warm-hearted, dignified and gracious care”.
In a statement, they described Marsha as “a beautiful, stunning, young 27-year-old, full of life, very kindhearted and bubbly personality who had a glowing presence whereever she went”.
Owen added: “She was so bubbly and full of life.
“I don’t know anyone that would have a bad word to say about her.”
People can donate towards the RVI fund in Marsha’s memory at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/march-for-marsha