A Bradford pensioner has raised thousands of pounds through a sponsored run he organised himself in memory of his wife who shared his passion for long walks.

Peter Sawaryn, 71, lost his wife, Elisabeth, to cancer in April and organised a sponsored half-marathon in her memory as a tribute to the "angels" who cared for her at Ardenlea hospice.

Mr Sawaryn, who loved walking with his wife and chose to walk the distance himself, thought that a run would be the best way of raising money for the charity that had looked after her.

He presented a cheque for £2,000 to the Marie Curie cancer charity to say "thank you" for all the care his wife was given.

Mr Sawaryn, from Bolton Road, Bradford, organised the event with the help of his god-daughter, Yvonne Denton, in an attempt to give something back to the hospital who had nursed his wife.

Sixteen friends and neighbours - aged between ten years and 71 - took part in the run which began at Peel Park.

A total of £2,000 was raised for the Marie Curie centre, which will replace the Ardenlea hospice in Ilkley, where Elisabeth spent her final days.

Mr Sawaryn said: "We would have been celebrating our golden wedding anniversary in a few months. We have been married more than 49 years. It is heartbreaking to think she is no longer with me."

In May 1998, it was discovered that 69-year-old Elisabeth was suffering from cancer. An operation was carried out to remove a tumour in her stomach but she battled on for another ten months before succumbing to the killer disease in April this year.

Mr Sarawyn immediately felt that he had to do something to help other people. "I thought that it would be a good idea to do a half-marathon as Elisabeth and I had always been very fond of walking. We used to go everywhere together and enjoyed many walking holidays."

Mr Sawaryn, who came to England from Poland in 1946, met Elisabeth in 1949. She had come to England from Austria and Mr Sawaryn described that first meeting as "love at first sight".

The pair married in 1950 at St Anne's Church in Bradford. They moved to their Bolton Road home in 1960 and lived there ever since.

Now Mr Sawaryn aims to follow the success of this first half marathon with a full marathon next year and he is determined to take part himself.

Dawn Smith, fundraising assistant at Marie Curie, said: "We are very grateful for anything that people do to raise money but Peter is particularly special for all the amazing hard work he has done. We are all thrilled with his efforts.

"He has had a really hard time but he hasn't felt sorry for himself - he has done his best to help others."

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