A County Durham mum has shown her gratitude to the crisis service that helped her husband before his sudden death.
Mum-of-two Louise Tomlinson ran the Great North Run (GNR) and raised £300 to highlight the vital work of the crisis service at Lanchester Road Hospital, Durham. The crisis team had helped Louise's husband, Marc, who suffered from depression for many years.
But weeks after Louise took part in the GNR, Marc - who was a member of the Mountain Rescue for over 14 years – died suddenly of a heart attack. Despite the tragic loss, Louise is determined to still hand over the money she raised to the service that helped Marc.
Louise said: “Marc suffered from depression for years and, when things reached a critical point in 2021, the crisis team stepped in to help. I will always be grateful for that. The staff were amazing and gave him someone to listen to him, someone to help him, someone to support him – which is why I wanted to raise money for the service.
“Up until the day Marc died he was feeling good about his mental health, so much better than before, and we’d had a lovely few days together beforehand. That is something I’ll never forget.”
A teacher’s wish to pay tribute to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation staff – who helped her husband in a time of need – has led to a legacy of hope and care in his memory.
Despite Louise’s on-going grief over the loss of Marc, she remained determined to deliver the money she raised for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation staff – and recently visited Lanchester Road to officially hand over the cheque. The funds are to be used to create wellbeing packs for staff, which will provide an on-going legacy of hope and care in memory of Marc and the support he received.
Louise continued: “Although it has been a tough few months since losing Marc, I really wanted the team to get the funds I had raised for them. I will always be grateful for all that the crisis team did for us, and I would like the wellbeing packs to be a token of that thanks in memory of Marc.”
Raising awareness of the Trust Louise, who lives near Consett, took part in the Great North Run for the first time in 2021, raising money in aid of Cancer Research in memory of her father. Last year, however, she opted to collect for the crisis service – in tribute to the care and support provided by doctors, nurses and other staff when Marc needed help.
She added: “I’m really passionate about the need for more mental health awareness. Some people feel they don’t have anyone to talk to, but there is help out there. Our whole family will always be grateful for the amazing work of the crisis team. We can’t thank them enough for being there for us and helping us through that time. The wellbeing packs will help the memory of Marc, and everything the team did for him, live on.”
Andrea Card, service manager at TEWV, said: “Our sympathies are with Louise and her family. She is going through a very hard time but was still determined to help us. She not only helped raise awareness about our mental health services by doing the GNR, but also raised money for the wellbeing packs too - which were very welcome indeed.
"Thank you for all your help Louise. It is a lovely gesture at such a difficult time and really is much appreciated. Marc’s memory will live on through this."
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