Pete’s Ironman tribute to his brother David

“Supporting St Luke’s through the Ironman feels like the closest thing I can offer to a thank-you note.”

Pete Thacker completed the Leeds Ironman last week – consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run – in memory of his brother David, who was cared for by St Luke’s back in 2023.

Pete, from Otley, near Leeds is a self-described “keen albeit rather slow cyclist and runner”. He decided to take on his second Ironman in Leeds on July 27, completing it in a fantastic 13 hours and16 minutes.

“I completed my first Ironman around twelve years ago, but the body is older now and responding to training in slightly more painful ways than it did back then! That said, there’s nothing quite like the sense of achievement when you cross the finish line whether you run, walk or crawl over it. There’s a strange enjoyment in pushing yourself to that point. When you come into the transition area for the second time to start the run, someone always says, ‘last bit now’ but what they don’t mention is that the last bit is a full marathon!”

David was just 36 when he sadly died in October 2023, following a rapid and devastating cancer diagnosis. “Everything happened incredibly quickly – from his initial diagnosis to being told the cancer was incurable and that little could be done. It’s hard enough to face something like that at any age,” Pete says, “but at 36, with a young family, it felt especially cruel.

David spent his final few weeks being looked after by our care teams at our specialist unit at Turnchapel. “The team there were nothing short of amazing. They brought comfort, dignity and warmth to a desperately difficult time – not just for David, but for all of us. I met up with him during his treatment, he was still trying to work at the same time, and I remember how worried he was about what lay ahead, especially having seen our dad go through cancer the year before.

“But he felt safe and cared for at St Luke’s, and that brought huge comfort to the rest of us. Where else could you be looked after so well and still have your dogs come visit? At one point, they even arranged for his daughter to walk a pony around the ward.

“Supporting St Luke’s through the Ironman feels like the closest thing I can offer to a thank-you note.”