A pair of siblings are running the London Marathon in memory of their father who died while volunteering for the RNLI.
Luke Titcomb and his sister Lucy May will be taking part in Sunday’s 26.2 mile race across the capital and fundraising for the lifeboat association that their father was so proud to be a part of.
Their father Mark Titcomb, who was from Newbury, retired in 2019 and moved to Port Isaac in Cornwall where he fulfilled his lifelong dream of volunteering for the RNLI.
Mrs May said: “Luke and I are running the London Marathon in memory of our truly amazing, one in a million dad who was our hero and best friend.
“Our dad was a very committed, loyal member of the RNLI in Port Isaac and his pride was in abundance.”
In the early evening of May 14, 2023, the pagers in Port Isaac sounded for an immediate lifeboat launch and Mr Titcomb rushed to the station, disconnecting the chargers from the boat and the launching vehicle, and making everything ready for a quick launch.
He got a bit wet during the launch so he said that he was going to pop home and change his clothes before returning.
The crew saved the life that day of the person who had got in to difficulty.
A short time later, Mr Titcomb’s wife Tara called one of the RNLI crew to say that he was feeling unwell.
The crew headed over to help him in his time of need, but despite the best efforts of the lifeboat team and an ambulance crew, Mark Titcomb died.
His daughter added: “The RNLI have done such a huge amount to support us as a family and they tried so hard to save dad’s life that we would really like to raise some money to try and find a small way to say thank you.
“Dad was so proud to be a part of the RNLI and we are so proud of him.
“My brother Luke and I are going to be running the 2024 London Marathon on behalf of the RNLI in dad’s memory.
“Running for dad is going to be so very tough but what makes it that much harder is it is going to be a year to the day that we last saw him.”
To view and donate to the pair’s fundraiser, visit https://rebrand.ly/knudm4h
They have already managed to raise over £4,100, and are close to achieving their £4,600 target.
