Bel’s story

Hey, my name’s Bel and on the 14th September I’m going to be running the Worcester City 10K for It’s Time in memory of my dad, Pete.

I suppose my running journey started when I was a child, I did cross-country at school and actually enjoyed it unlike my peers! I did a few running events in my teen years, but most notably the same Worcester city run in the young athlete’s category in 2018.

I stopped running (and all my other sports) in 2019 after a shoulder injury which took me until earlier this year to realise that rehabbing to return to my other sports kickboxing and climbing properly wasn’t going to be possible which is part of the reason I started running again.

Throughout the first two years of my degree in Paramedic Science I started to learn how life really could change in an instant. On the 6th of October 2024 I came home in the early hours of the morning after a night out, said goodnight to my dad who was watching TV and went to bed; 5 hours later he had died in his sleep and my colleagues were telling me that there was nothing more I could have done for him. That moment was when I truly understood what I had learnt about life changing in an instant.

Losing a parent at the age of 20 made grieving particularly hard, I was, and still am at the time of writing this, in my third year of uni on a course that is pretty intense so had the worry of falling behind and not being able to catch up. As well, trying to comprehend all the parts of my life that my dad now wouldn’t be a part of such as my 21st birthday, graduation, getting my first proper job etc.

The best way I can describe grief is like being trapped in a snow globe, some days it encapsulates you and others its still and just touching part of you; so, it’s always there but at times its manageable enough that you can work with it. At the minute, I still have quite a few days where grief does encapsulate me, and those days are hard.

I’m lucky to have some amazing friends who, despite sometimes not knowing what to say, are always there for me when I’m ready. I was also extremely lucky to be supported throughout the last year by my university and placement hub from the evening of dad’s death, allowing me to return when I was ready and catch up with my degree at my pace.

All this support, whilst amazing, doesn’t take away from the loneliness that can come with grief and losing a parent at a young age. I initially heard about It’s time through TikTok which led me to their website which helped me comprehend that I wasn’t alone and also provided really useful information about what is normal to experience with grief when it comes to things like anniversaries and birthdays.

I entered the 10k after I decided that I needed a way to turn the grief that I was feeling into something positive; raising money for a charity that directly helped me after dad died and also by bringing awareness to grief and losing a parent at a young age. Running has given me an outlet for my grief and a way to clear my head on the days where it feels like I am totally encapsulated by grief. My dad would always encourage me to do hard things and stick it out if things were tough and I hope that running is embodying that. Oh…and it gives me a reason to listen to my dad’s favourite songs, who knew that Madness and Kings of Leon would fuel PB’s.