Emma Derrick's bed push raises £25,000 for cancer charities

A MONEYSPINNING bed push organised by determined cancer victim Emma Derrick has raised a staggering £25,000 for local charities.

Emma, from Pill, set upon the idea of pushing a bed the 215 miles from her home village to Metherell in Cornwall where she grew up after being diagnosed with cancer.

Emma, 34, was first diagnosed with melanoma of the face at the end of summer 2009.

Despite having a number of operations and a raft of gruelling radiotherapy treatment and being given the all clear twice, the cancer returned for a third time in May.

Further tests and scans showed she had tumours in her pelvis, liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach and chest.

Doctors gave Emma, who used to run the Kings Head in the village, just months to live and after a determined fight against the disease, she passed away in August.

Emma and husband Maff, 44, had planned to do a charity bed push when she was originally given the all clear from the disease.

But when Emma was told her condition was terminal she was even more determined to carry on and organise the door2door4thecure fundraiser.

And in July, Maff, friend Paul Moger and a team of around 20 friends set off to push the purple and pink hospital bed to Cornwall over 11 days.

Emma, who was too unwell to take part in the stunt, had initially set herself a target of raising £4,000 for the charities which had helped her.

But her story of courage, and determination to live every day to the full, touched so many people, the push raised an incredible £25,000.

The team of fundraisers were collecting an average of £1,000 a day as they made their way to the Cornish village.

Five cheques of £5,000 were handed to the charities Macmillan Cancer, The Teenage Cancer Trust, Bristol Oncology Unit, St Peter's Hospice and Pill Medical Surgery at a fundraising band event at Lodway Cricket Club in Pill on Saturday night.

Maff, who presented the cheques, said: "We had set ourselves a much smaller fundraising target, but the support for what we were doing was amazing and on some days we were collecting up to £1000.

"To have raised £25,000 is an amazing tribute to Emma.

"I am sure she us up there laughing and cheering and she would have been delighted at the success of the bed push.

"We wanted to say thank you to all the charities and organisations which helped Emma and I because they were so fantastic and the bed push was a way of doing that."

Maff is now planning to make the bed push an annual event as a lasting tribute to his wife's memory.

He said: "This is something I now plan to do every year in Emma's memory.

"I am also planning to set up a registered charity so we can continue to raise money for the good causes which help people affected by cancer."

To find out more go to www.door2door4thecure.com.