A grieving mum whose toddler died of cancer says her girl’s fighting spirit gave her the courage to face the brutal jungle conditions of SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Recruit Becky Eagon’s daughter Darcey tragically died of a brain tumour in September 2016, aged two.
The mum, 35, said: “There were so many times in the jungle, where I had an injury or even just climbing, where I thought to myself, ‘She never gave up’. I kept telling myself that, to carry on.”
The first sign Darcey was ill was when she started being sick in the mornings, followed by walking oddly. Despite surgery, she passed away three weeks later.
Becky and her partner Lee Shaw, 36, an insurance broker, turned to fitness to help them cope after the tot’s death, running in 5k and 10k races. Then Becky applied for Channel 4 ’s SAS: Who Dares Wins to challenge herself further.
She said: “Everyone says I’m a really strong person but I always wondered if deep down, I actually am. I suppose I wanted to test that a little bit.”
In the latest episode, viewers saw Becky fail to shoot a target in a task. She said: “I think I cried for about an hour after. I absolutely hated it.” But camaraderie in the Vietnamese camp pulled her through – plus thoughts of Darcey and son Riley, 11.
Becky, from Basildon, Essex, says: “With Darcey, I feel her loss in my heart, like actual heartbreak.
“She was so sassy and had the best giggle and smile ever. She was amazing. It was really weird that a lot of us who had suffered loss gravitated towards each other. I learned with grief that other people do feel how you feel.”
Inspired by her time in SAS – which she says she would 100% do again – Becky is studying to be a personal trainer. And the fitness fan is using her strength in other ways.
She added: “The other week, I picked Riley up from football because he’d hurt his foot and was trying to limp across the pitch.
“I chucked him over my shoulder and all his mates were like: ‘Your mum is well strong!’ I hope by going on SAS, I have made them both proud.”
SAS: Who Dares Wins – Jungle Hell is on Channel 4 on Mondays at 9pm
