Mark Evans, 53, from Cheadle Hulme, had been working as usual at his office in Stockport from where he managed a self-adhesives business. The first sign that anything was amiss was when his wife, Tracy, didn’t receive his usual 5:30pm phone call to let her know that he was heading home.
Their elder daughter, Abbie, 25, a newly qualified doctor described Mark as not only her dad but one of her “best friends”.
Mark had not complained of any chest pains and nor had he felt unwell as far as his family was aware. It was completely unexpected.
Abbie ran the Berlin half marathon on April 6, the day after Hannah, 23, a trainee accountant completed the Ibiza half marathon.
The devoted daughters were determined to do something significant to remember their dad and to raise funds in his name for BHF life-saving research into heart and circulatory disease.
Abbie said: “I was in Leeds where I work on the day dad died. Mum said she knew something was wrong when his call didn’t come through. She was taken to the office, and found Dad had collapsed behind his desk at work. It was too late.
“He was a very kind man and one of the funniest men I ever met. I miss him every single day. He was the best dad to me and Hannah and our brother Josh. We miss him so much and are just driven now to do positive things and make him proud.
“He was a massive U2 fan. I’ve got a playlist of all his favourite songs that include a lot of U2 that I’m going to be listening to while I’m running. I know it’s going to be emotional, but that’s ok and I just want to enjoy it and do it for him.”
To sponsor Abbie and Hannah click here: https://www.justgiving.com/team/abbieandsamsfundraisor
Jas Dhanda, BHF Senior Events Executive, said: “We are so very grateful to Abbie and Hannah for running the Berlin and Ibiza Half-Marathons for the BHF. We understand how personally connected they must feel to the research that BHF funds and are so grateful that they are fundraising in memory of their dad, Mark. They will help other families benefit from the scientific breakthroughs that our BHF-funded scientists are working on every day
Around 320,000 people are living with heart and circulatory disease in Greater Manchester. There are 590 deaths in the city region each month from heart and circulatory disease.