A tragedy-hit widow will abseil off the top of Dundee University Tower on what would have been her second wedding anniversary.
Darlene Connor was the first person to register for the forthcoming abseil being organised to raise money for the Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre, close to Ninewells Hospital.
She said, “When I heard it was on August 27, I couldn’t believe it. I just had to do the abseil.”
Two years ago Darlene and her late husband, Larry, were forced to bring forward the date of their wedding, because Larry was dying of cancer.
The couple had been together for seven years when Larry was diagnosed and they decided to get married, so booked a hotel and made all the arrangements.
Larry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2009.WeddingDarlene said, “At that time we decided to get engaged and Larry was sure he would be okay. We set a date for the wedding on September 19 (2009).
“Then Larry took a really bad turn in August and a consultant said if we were planning to get married, we had better make it sooner rather than later.”
Darlene asked staff at Maggie’s if she and Larry could hold the wedding there the following day. Staff immediately agreed, but on the day Larry was too ill to make the journey from his hospital bed.
She said, “I didn’t want to get married in the hospital. Unfortunately, the next day when we were getting married, that was on August 27, 2009, he was not well enough to go across, so we got married in the hospital.”
Overnight Maggie’s staff conjured up a cake and sandwiches and put on the reception. Darlene said, “I couldn’t cancel the reception because all my friends were coming up to Maggie’s expecting to watch us get married there.
“We went ahead with the reception, although obviously it was sad Larry couldn’t be there. I was gobsmacked at what the Maggie’s staff had managed to produce at such short notice. They were amazing.”
Three weeks after the wedding, Larry died in Roxburghe House. Darlene later heard Maggie’s was holding a sponsored abseil on May 22 last year, the day that would have been Larry’s 50th birthday.
She felt she had to do it, but the places were all booked up. She persuaded the abseil organiser to squeeze her in, the last person to register for the 2010 event.First entrantSo when she heard this year’s event coincided with what would have been her second wedding anniversary, Darlene was first to sign up.
Darlene said, “My husband would have been so proud seeing me do the abseil. He was an adrenalin junkie. He had a motor bike, a Porsche, he liked water skiing, had a jet bike and a speed boat.
“He loved his toys. But abseiling was one thing he had never done but probably would have loved to do.”
Darlene is hoping to raise several hundred pounds in sponsorship this year to help the charity that supported her husband through his illness and continued to support her after his death.
It costs about £400,000 a year to run the Maggie’s Centre, money raised wholly through voluntary donations. The centre is not supported through the mainstream NHS budget.
There are still places available for this year’s abseil. Registration is £25 and the minimum sponsorship is £100.