Bride-to-be Siobhan Corria and her partner Terence Canning had an early wedding celebration when they took part in the Cardiff Half Marathon over the weekend. The couple ran the course wearing bride and groom outfits in a bid to raise money and awareness for a charity close to their hearts.
The half marathon was the eighth of 10 runs they intend to complete before their wedding at Cardiff's City Hall on December 3. They have been raising money for the UK Sepsis Trust, in memory of Terence's brother Mark who died from the condition on June 2, 2012. Mark's family had never heard of sepsis before his death, but have spent the past decade raising awareness and urging people to look out for the symptoms.
Shortly before the Golden Jubilee weekend in 2012, Mark, died from organ failure due to sepsis. The 41-year-old, who had moved to London from Cardiff, was physically fit and had just taken part in a triathlon.
Read more: See all of the best pictures from the Cardiff Half Marathon here.
The Thursday after his wedding anniversary, Mark was taken into hospital with stomach pains at around mid-day. At 2pm, Terence arrived at the hospital, where his brother was waiting for tests for gallstones. By 5pm Mark was admitted to a ward, and at 5.30pm he went into full cardiac arrest.
Mark was moved urgently to intensive care. He died at lunchtime on the Saturday without regaining consciousness leaving behind his wife and young daughter.
Siobhan and Terence said: "Around the same time Mark died, the UK Sepsis Trust was a recently established charity founded by Dr Ron Daniels who had seen too many sepsis related deaths on his critical care unit.
"In just 10 years, the UK Sepsis Trust (UKST) has equipped millions of people to look out for the signs of sepsis, supported thousands of struggling families and empowered healthcare professionals across the nation to save even more lives. To mark the anniversary of the UK Sepsis Trust and in memory of Mark, we decided to 'power up' and complete 10 events in 2022."
The first event was the Cardiff Half Marathon in March, and since then they have also taken part in the Cardiff Bay 10km, Ride London, and the Port Talbot Half Marathon. The final one will be the Margam Park 10K on October 30.
Siobhan says: "I haven't ran them all in my wedding dress, I thought it would be fun to do the Cardiff Half in one because City Hall is where we will be getting married in two months time.
"I loved it, everyone were calling out to us, and it has really helped to raise awareness. I loved the dress too. It is not the one I will be wearing on my wedding day, but I have wondered why I spent so much on my dress, when this one which was £50 from Asos is so nice. I am going to wear it again for the Margam run, because it is at Halloween, so I can go as a zombie bride. "
Siobhan met Terence and his family when she was a local councillor for Llandaff North, and helped the family to install a memorial bench for Mark in the area.
"That is how we met, and since then I have got involved in the charity, and we want to raise as much awareness as possible, and hopefully we can save lives along the way," she said. Their fundraising page can be found here.
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