Hailsham widow set to take on five-day challenge for late husband

Kerry Knight's husband Shawn Knight died from kidney cancer in June 2017 at the age of 49.

Throughout the 14 months of his illness and passing, Kerry shared her thoughts and feelings in poetry because she said it's a ‘cathartic way to express’ how she is feeling. Kerry said: “After much procrastinating and battling my self-doubt over my ability to achieve this, I’ve pushed through and self-published my poems on Amazon.”

Find out more about that here.

Now she is taking on a five-day walking challenge in honour of Shawn. She will be starting at 5.55am each day from the Lansdowne Hotel in Eastbourne and is hoping to bring her fundraising total for St Wilfrid’s Hospice to £5,000.

Kerry said: “The number five has been significant this year. We’ve recently marked our fifth year without Shawn, and I’ll be celebrating my 51st birthday on April 5 2023. Shawn never got to celebrate his 50th birthday, so I want to end my 50th year doing something meaningful.”

Shawn spent his final days at St Wilfrid’s Hospice. Kerry said: “He was surrounded by his family and enveloped in love.

“I cannot express enough to you the comfort this wonderful place gave our family. We instantly felt like we were in safe hands; that feeling of the weight being lifted from my shoulders on the morning of his arrival will stay with me forever. Shawn was shown such love and dignity, nothing was too much trouble.”

Kerry and her family have raised £4,700 for St Wilfrid’s since Shawn’s death and she is aiming to get that figure over £5,000. She said: “None of us know what life has in store and we don’t like to think that one day we may need the hospice. But this amazing place, with all its wonderful staff, are exactly what we need if that’s how our story unfolds. Which is why I am so passionate about raising money for them.”

The challenge will take place April 1-5.

Follow Kerry’s progress and donate here