Bristol woman finds closure in running after dad's death

Felicity Williams found out her dad suffered a heart attack as she crossed the finishing line in April 2022

A woman whose father suffered a heart attack as she was running a half marathon will run the same race.

Last April, Felicity Williams from Bristol found out at the finish line that her dad Simon Burridge was being airlifted to hospital.

He died nine days later and Ms Williams, 34, felt like she "did not want to ever run again".

She is now set to take part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon and says running has helped with her grief.

After her father's death, Ms Williams said she could initially only run at the gym, where she could keep an eye on her phone "should something else happen".

Despite her fears, when she received an email with the opportunity to run the half marathon for the British Heart Foundation, she decided to sign up.

"I thought it could be closure to run in memory of my dad," Ms Williams said.

Simon Burridge suffered a heart attack in April 2022 and died nine days later

She has since been able to go on runs outside and said it was "amazing" for her grieving process.

Ms Williams is now looking forward to the marathon and raising money which will fund free online CPR courses and medication.

"I have put my dad's favourite songs on a playlist, a lot of Rolling Stones and Van Morrison, to keep him close," she said.

"One of my sisters will run with me and my family will be there to watch so I feel a lot better going into it," Ms Williams added.