TWO devoted sisters will remember their younger sibling’s birthday as they carry out a memorial swim challenge.
Heading up to Windermere in July Hayley, 55, from Winnersh, and her sister Helen, 59, will mark what would have been their youngest sister’s 53rd birthday with a swim challenge across England’s longest lake.
The two surviving sixers have so far completed more than 20 long distance open water swims all over the world in memory of their sister, Heather, who died during heart surgery in 2009.
The pair have raised more than £28,000 for the British Heart Foundation, with Hayley last year completing the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming — a feat that includes crossing the English Channel, swimming around Manhattan Island, and most recently, conquering the Catalina Channel off the coast of California.
On Sunday, July 26, she will swim the length of Windermere with Helen by her side in the safety boat and their husbands paddling kayaks alongside.
Hayley said: “Every swim challenge we do, we do it for Heather.
“Helen can’t swim this one as she is recovering from hip surgery, but she’ll be by my side as she so often is when I’m in the water.
“Swimming is the thing that bonds us all as sisters.
“We spent part of our childhood in Cyprus and the three of us spent many happy hours in the sea, swimming and playing together.
“Whenever we complete a challenge, we ask for an extra medal for Heather, and take it on our annual holiday back to Cyprus where we place it somewhere special to the three of us and remember her and the happy times we all spent together.
“Heather is always with us.
“She brought Helen and me closer than ever and we always say that out of all that loss came something good.”
“Windermere feels like a small swim compared to the ones we’ve achieved previously, but it’s been on my list of achievements for a long time and it will be so special to be in such a beautiful location with Helen and our husbands on Heather’s birthday.
Nicola Reavey, Fundraising Manager at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Hayley and Helen are the most extraordinary sisters, who have kept Heather’s memory alive through their incredible swim challenges.
“They have raised more than £25,000 so far for the British Heart Foundation.
“We’re so proud to have Hayley and Helen as part of the BHF family; their fundraising helps us power life-saving research and gives hope to families affected by heart conditions.” People wanting to donate to the sisters’ fundraising efforts can visit: tributefunds.bhf.org.uk(search for Heather Johnson).
For information, visit: bhf.org.uk
