My mum was called Jeanette Gribbin, fondly known by many as Jinty. She was my rock. She was my best friend. She was my inspiration. 

Mum had a stroke on May 22nd 2013, she also had 2 pulmonary emboli and a 9cm mass in her abdomen. Mum recovered well from this and was discharged from hospital on June 7th. 

Unfortunately, Jinty took another stroke on June 29th; this time a bigger one. Her left side was affected, and she broke her ankle when she fell. For a week or so, my mum was pretty much unconcious, unable to communicate or move her left side. However, she showed the most tremendous strength I have ever seen and battled to recover. Slowly, she was able to speak off her own accord, she opened her eyes more, and she laughed - boy, did she laugh. 

After a few weeks, it was decided mum wasn't fit for treatment on the mass (which was believed to be the cause of her blood clotting) and focus should be on stroke recovery. This was a hard blow - mum was terrified of being told she had cancer, and now it was being put off. But my mum battled on, she stood for the first time, she wrote, she regained some movement in her left limbs, she asked questions. We were getting our Jinty back, and it was wonderful! 

Sadly, on August 21st, I got a call to say mum had been having seizures. Fear was that she had had a further stroke. It was discovered mum had had a heart attack, and had developed aspiration pneumonia. We were faced with the realisation that we were going to lose the person we loved the most. We stayed with her, we told her we loved her and how proud we were of her...we held her hand. Mum, our Jinty, died on August 22nd 2013 aged just 62.

Jinty showed how when faced with your worst nightmare, the best thing to do is pick yourself up, set your eyes forward and get on with it. The strength and determination she showed during her illness was awe-inspiring. Jinty's time on earth was all too short, she didn't deserve what happened to her, it just wasn't fair. 

Unfortunately, this is a reality that many stroke victims and their families face. This is a cruel illness that quickly snatches the people you love the most and places huge hurdles in front of them. Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland help these families and help raise awareness for the types of illnesses my mum encountered. They do great things and we want to show our support of them, on behalf of ourselves and Jinty. 

For those reasons, my cousin Claire and myself will be running 3 HALF MARATHONS in the space of 3 months, a 10k and a 5k 'Mud Run'. We will have help from friends and family along the way who will also participate in one or two events. 

We will be running the Inverness Half Marathon on March 9th 2014,

the Craufurdland Castle 5k Mud Run on March 30th 2014 (Mum's birthday and Mother's Day - this event will consist of a team of 15),

the Angus HaM in Dundee on April 19th 2014, where we will be joined by my dear friends Steph Abbot and Tom Rye,

the Troon Tortoises 10k on May 7th 2014,

and the Edinbugh Half Marathon on May 25th 2014. 

 

Our intention is to do this for Jinty, to pay tribute to her memory and to try and emulate some of the strength and determination she showed. Doing this, we want to raise as much money as possible, so please dig deep and remember this is for Jinty. Whether she taught you or your kids to swim, she worked with you, she was your friend, or she was just one of those people you said 'hello' to when you passed; or if you didn't even know her at all...please give what you can.

All money raised will go to the Jeanette Gribbin Sapphire Tribute Fund for Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland, which was started with the collection from her funeral. This is a fund that will forever be in memory of mum.

We thank each and every one of you that donates, and has shown your support to us all over the last wee while. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do this. 

In short, Jeanette 'Jinty' Gribbin, our mum, sister, aunt and friend, was just one of life's truly good people. May her memory live on. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.