Peter Howarth died six months after he suffered a stroke during a dog walk and tests revealed he also had stage four cancer.
When Neil Howarth’s father collapsed during a long dog walk, everything in the family’s life was quickly turned upside down.
Peter Howarth had suffered a stroke but tests revealed he also had stage four cancer and he died six months later, a week after the death of his dog, Molly.
Life had changed very suddenly, especially for Neil’s mother Rosemary Howarth, but he said support from the charity Marie Curie helped her to process her grief and rebuild her confidence.
On Sunday April 26, Neil and his wife Sadhbh will run the TCS London Marathon for Marie Curie, the event’s charity of the year, to raise money so others can benefit from that support.
“My mum relied a lot on my dad to make a lot of the life decisions,” Neil, 36, a software sales director from Greenwich, south-east London, told the Press Association.
“Suddenly her world has changed overnight. So to have people that she can speak to with no judgment, no strong opinions, just to listen and advise, was really, really important for her and made a big difference.”
Peter, an IT helpdesk technician, and Rosemary, a children’s nurse, moved to Portaferry, in County Down, Northern Ireland, from Oxfordshire after they retired.
“They fell in love with Northern Ireland when they saw the coastline, when they got to know the people as well, it made them feel like a real community,” Neil said.
“His dream was to retire and have a view of the sea. He’d done that two years prior so he was only really just getting into it when he got the news.”
Peter was 63 when he collapsed during a long walk with Molly in April 2024.
The cancer diagnosis was a shock to the whole family, Neil said, especially as Peter was “very fit and healthy, very active, didn’t drink and smoke, none of those typical things”.
“I count myself very lucky that we still had a few months after that, we could spend together and make more memories. I try and look at it at that perspective. Some people aren’t as lucky,” said Neil, who moved to Northern Ireland with Sadhbh that summer to help with Peter’s care.
He said his father was “fiercely independent and didn’t want to put people out”, but “the situation changed quite quickly”.
“He spent most of the time at home, there were a few hospital visits and then he very quickly went to the hospital.”
Peter died at Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, County Down, on October 10 2024.
“All the staff in there were amazing with him, very caring and kind,” Neil said.
“They were very, very good to him and to us.”
Life was different for them all but especially for Rosemary after the deaths of both Peter and Molly.
“Her world changed upside down within a week which is even more testament to the support we could get from Marie Curie,” Neil said.
“We gave her some encouragement to use the support line. It’s for everyone, I think that’s what I wanted to get across. She’s not someone who often looks for support and she wasn’t necessarily expecting anything from it but when she’d started that conversation it really helped her to process things.”
He said his father’s death could have left Rosemary, now 75, “very isolated”, but Marie Curie’s support has helped her to become more independent.
“She’s almost had to reinvent herself at her age,” he said.
“For me it’s also very helpful to know that there’s people there to support her and give her advice as well.”
He added: “I look at how she was two years ago and where she is now and it’s a complete difference in terms of what she can do, her independence. She’s back driving again, spending time with the local community.
“That’s all a result of the support that was given at the time to help her through the situation. Without that she wouldn’t be where she is now.”
Neil also ran the TCS London Marathon for Marie Curie in 2025 and he was able to tell his father he had a confirmed place before Peter’s death.
“He’d ran the London Marathon 25 years previously so for me that was a real inspiration that I could follow in his footsteps.
“Although he’d passed before I’d done the London Marathon, I knew he was very proud and there with me as well.”
Neil said running has helped him to process his emotions, adding “it’s also good to be able to give back”.
“From spending time with Marie Curie and doing some of the run clubs I’ve met some of the incredible nurses as well.
“They do some absolutely incredible things day in day out so it’s the least I can do to be honest to raise money.”
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people will head to TCS London Marathon start lines in Blackheath and Greenwich Park in south-east London, including Neil and Sadhbh, 31, a software sales manager.
“I’m about 800m from the start line so a little bit of a head start over everyone else not having to get up at the crack of dawn,” Neil said.
“Unlike the other 60,000 people I’ve got a bit of a lie in on Sunday morning.”
– To sponsor Neil and Sadhbh: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sadhbh-carson-howarth
