"It’s just our way of keeping his memory alive" - Raise 4 Reu

This year, the three of us, one friend from school, two from uni, ran the London Marathon together in memory of our mate Reu.

Reu was our best mate - funny, loyal, and annoyingly good at absolutely everything. Music, sport, even making new friends in record time. He was the kind of person who could pick up a guitar or rugby ball and instantly be better than you at it, which (obviously) was deeply frustrating.

Reu had cystic fibrosis, but that never defined him. What defined him was his razor-sharp humour, his ridiculous talent for anything he tried, and his ability to connect people. He was the glue that brought us, and a lot of others, together.

Tom was friends with Reu from school; Luke and Dan were friends he made at university. The only reason the three of us are even friends is because of Reu. What started with long drives to visit him in hospital turned into years of friendship, bad group chat jokes, and Tom being best man at Luke’s wedding (TBC on the return favour).

Reu eventually had a double lung transplant, and for a while, things looked good. His voice even returned to its original tone, which we can only describe as sounding like he’d been eating gravel. A real throwback. But Reu being Reu, he made the most of it. Even when things got tough, he never lost his humour.

Since he passed away five years ago, we’ve kept his name front and centre with a series of fundraising challenges he’d have pretended to be embarrassed by (but absolutely loved). There have been multiple charity rugby matches (his brother starred), a 1,000km bike ride to the Arctic Circle (shoutout Elliot and Nick), fancy dress beer pong, bingo nights, an ultramarathon, and most recently, the London Marathon.

We’re now getting close to raising £50,000 in his memory. While we love the difference that’s making for Cystic Fibrosis Trust, we also love that it’s just our way of keeping his memory alive - through challenges, jokes, and friendship. We hope this message encourages others to get involved and raise money for the causes that matter to them, because it really does make a difference.

Reu was brutally honest, ridiculously sharp, and the best friend we could have ever asked for. We miss him all the time, but we’re pretty sure he’d be happy with how we’ve all turned out.

We’ll keep going. Always.