Nick honours his dad with gruelling Spanish Ironman challenge for St Catherine’s Hospice

A Lancashire dad has been honoured by his son who completed an Ironman challenge in Spain to raise more than £3,000 for St Catherine’s Hospice.

James Moss was cared for by the charity 10 years ago after being diagnosed with mouth cancer. To commemorate his tenth anniversary, his son Nick took on the gruelling challenge in Gandia.

Nick, 34, explained: “From the time my father was diagnosed to his final days he was cared for by St Catherine’s with care and patience both at the hospice and at home, providing an environment that allowed him to enjoy his final days in comfort.

“Giving back to this incredible charity which gave my father and my family immense emotional and psychological support, allowing us to enjoy and cherish the final days with him, felt like the appropriate way to remember him and something he would have wanted.”

James, who grew up in Preston and lived in Saudi Arabia before moving to Clayton-le-Woods, received care from the St Catherine’s community nurses, which enabled him to be at home for his final days.

“This amazing charity gave him the care that allowed him to live with dignity and in peace,” Nick added. “I did the event to give back to St Catherine’s, but I also hope that in some way the event managed to capture the endurance, strength and humour that he showed in the face of adversity during his final weeks.”

The gruelling feat involved a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42.1km run. Nick, who lives in London and works as a sustainable development consultant, raised an incredible £3,328 for the Lostock Hall hospice.

He said: “Despite Spain throwing some pretty hefty thunderstorms, I finished in 11 hours and 15 minutes. Far more importantly, I crossed the line to find out that I had hit my funding target of £3,000 during the event!

“There was a lot of training and preparation involved, with countless cold early morning rides, hours in my local leisure centre pool, numerous bike repairs, and eating my body weight in pasta meals, but it was all totally worth it!”

Emma Jacovelli, head of community engagement at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “What a wonderful way for Nick to pay tribute to his dad; we’re so grateful for his amazing efforts, both in completing this mammoth challenge and in raising such a fantastic amount for St Catherine’s.

“We simply couldn’t continue to provide our specialist palliative and end-of-life care to local people with life-shortening conditions without the help of our wonderful supporters both near and far who go to great lengths to raise vital funds.

“We’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ for his amazing efforts 10 years after experiencing the care and support of St Catherine’s; it really does mean a lot and makes a meaningful difference to the families we are helping now and in the future.”

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