Two Pink Ladies

October 2008

Suzie Rush will be 44 next month. She has twin boys who are 21, and a daughter who is 17. She has been married to Mark for 22 years, is a Health and Beauty lecturer at West Suffolk College, and they live in a small Suffolk village. Suzie is, in many ways, an ordinary woman, except in April this year she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). MND is a rapidly progressive, incurable condition. The cause of MND is unknown and there is no known cure.
There is a history of the condition in the family but Suzie never thought it would happen to her. So what does she decide to do after diagnosis?
Instead of collapsing in a heap, she and her best friend of over 20 years, Debs, rode quad bikes 874 miles from John O’ Groats to Land’s End to raise money for St Nicholas Hospice Care. And so the ‘2PinkLadies challenge’ was born. Not the most standard of reactions after such devastating news, but Suzie is an exuberant, courageous and fabulous woman, who is determined to have fun, live life to the full and give back to her beloved local charity.
The challenge was launched to mark World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Wednesday 8 October at St Nicholas Hospice Care.
Suzie and Debs in all their pink glory, and drinking pink champagne, were at the event alongside St Nicholas Hospice Care staff. The quad bikes were sponsored by Greenview Environmental and were officially handed over by Founder John Jardine at the launch event.
Suzie explains why she is doing the challenge. “People think a Hospice is a place to go to die, but St Nicholas Hospice Care is so much more than that. It provides care and support for the living, their family and friends, as well as those close to the end of their lives. I know I’ll need them more and more, and they’ll be there, as time goes by".
The 2pinkLadies challenge began on Saturday 17 October in John O’ Groats, Scotland and finished in Land’s End, Penzance on Saturday 25 October. The riders, resplendent in pink biker jackets and boots, were supported by their two husbands. Over £30,000 was raised for St. Nicholas Hospice as a result of thier amazing efforts.

For further information please contact St Nicholas Hospice on 01284 715584 or visit www.2pinkladies.co.uk