A trusty old Ford Fiesta will soon embark on its toughest journey as a tribute to its late owner Susan Cropper.
Daughter Claire and her husband Olly will drive the beloved black car in the Fireball Rally, a nine-day adventure through eight European countries.
The Ormskirk couple are hoping to raise £2,000 for St Ann’s Hospice as a thank you for caring for Susan 69, from Walkden, who died of lung and liver cancer in March, having been diagnosed only seven weeks earlier.
Her 11-year-old Fiesta has only travelled 19,000 miles but will put another 2,500 miles on the clock after leaving Calais on August 28, en route to Valencia for the tomato-throwing festival, before finishing in Amsterdam.
Claire, a speech and language therapist whose father Ian also died in the Little Hulton hospice in 2008, said: “The car was their pride and joy so we thought it’d be a nice idea to use it to raise money. She had a positive experience when my dad was a patient at the hospice and it was her request to die there.
“She felt safe and secure in St Ann’s and had a fear of hospitals. Mum enjoyed walking and loved her family. She was a bingo caller in Walkden for 20 years and also worked in a post office so was very much part of the community.”
Olly, a private physio, said: “Susan would never drive on motorways and would have found it amusing that her car would be driven round Europe. For us taking the car means she’s coming with us on the journey.”
Claire’s older sister Emma, husband Andrew and daughter Jessica (10) are supporting their trip. To donate go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/clairecropper07.
