A FAMILY have praised cancer charities for helping a loved one die at home.

At the age of 60, Peter Marsden, who lived in Ewood, Blackburn was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer much to the devastation of his family and friends.

But despite doctors giving him anything from two weeks to two months to live, Mr Marsden fought bravely with the disease for 18 month before passing away in 1998, aged 62.

And his last wish of dying at home surrounded by his family was fulfilled thanks to nurses from Marie Curie and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Following his death, his daughter Sarah Brotherton and her husband Eric and the rest of their family have set about raising money to thank Marie Curie and MacMillan in his memory.

Since then, various fundraising events they have organised have raised £12,000 for the charities.

Now Mr and Mrs Brotherton, from Ribchester, who run Triangles Hair & Beauty Salon in Preston New Road, Blackburn, along with their daughter Sophie, will take part in a series of running fundraisers in Florida in his memory and to raise money for Marie Curie.

Mrs Brotherton said: “My dad’s last wish was to pass away at home with his family, Marie Curie and Macmillan would help us by sitting with him at night, allowing us to sleep and then when it was his time they came to get us so he was surrounded by his family.

“During dad’s battle his mantra would be to see the daffodils - this he managed to do twice.

“They had just come into the shops the week he started to lose his battle, so I managed to buy out the shop and dad was surrounded by daffodils at the end.

“Marie Curie’s logo is ‘The Daffodil’, this meaning it’s the perfect charity for us to support.

“My family wanted to do something for them after they gave and did so much for us.

“We also want to give something to clients at the hair salon who have experienced cancer but couldn’t access the nurse care my father received as the money wasn’t there, so that's why we started to fundraise when we did in 2014."

In Florida, they will run 10k on November 4, followed by a half marathon on November 5, before they run a half marathon on January 5, full marathon on January 6 and another half marathon on January 11.

Mrs Brotherton said: “We are definitely mad and set ourselves a hard challenge but we are determined to succeed for my dad Peter Marsden and all the others, family, friends and clients that suffer from this horrible disease.”

Other events held in Mr Marsden’s memories include a ball organised by the family at Ewood Park in Blackburn recently which saw over 170 people attend and raised over £8,000.

While Mr and Mrs Brotherton and their son Kyle raised £3,000 for Macmillan in 2014 after cycling £1,250 miles in Florida.

Danielle Richards, community fundraiser for Marie Curie Lancashire said: “The £8010.63 raised equates to approximately 50 nights or 400 hours of care for families living with terminal illness.

“The support of people like the Brotherton Family is so important because they help Marie Curie to raise the vital funds we need to reach more people and help us to promote the importance of good quality end of life care. We can’t thank them enough.”

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sarah-brotherton.