Pensioner, 83, with new hip to tackle Great North Run in memory of late husband

An 83-year-old pensioner who recently had hip replacement surgery will be tackling the Great North Run in memory of her late husband.

Caroline Quibell, a grandmother of 12, will take on the half marathon on Sunday in honour of her husband, Michael, who died in October aged 81 after a seven-year battle with motor neurone disease (MND).

The retired children’s nurse, who will be running alongside her eldest son, Toby, 56, is fundraising for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, a charity funding research into effective treatments for MND.

She has already raised more than £1,000.

Mrs Quibell, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was the primary carer for her husband after he became “very disabled” with the disease, which she said was “very hard”, although they “faced it together”.

She has taken part in the Great North Run, which covers the 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields, three times before.

The last time, in 2018, saw Mr Quibell cheering her on, but a combination of Covid restrictions and providing care for her late husband has since prevented her from taking part.

Caroline Quibell has been running with her dog Streak for an hour every day to train for the Great North Run (David Bartholomew Photography/PA)

On how she is feeling ahead of the run, the mother-of-five, who got into the fitness activity when she was 70, told the PA news agency that the training and build-up to the run has been “very emotional”.

She said: “Everything’s been emotional but my family have been there for me all the time.

“I’m nervous. I just hope that I can make the distance.”

Mrs Quibell has been training alongside her “best friend”, her dog Streak, a two-year-old Irish water spaniel, which her family encouraged her to get in her husband’s dying days.

“The children persuaded me to have a dog, which I’m glad I did because he is now my best friend,” she said.

“I run with him for an hour everyday.”

However, preparing for this year’s Great North Run has been “a bit painful” after Mrs Quibell had a fall a week before her husband’s funeral, which required her to undergo hip replacement surgery in November.

Caroline Quibell is fundraising for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, a charity funding research into treatment for MND (David Bartholomew Photography/PA)

“Two weeks after Michael died, I was walking my dog in the park and another dog knocked me over and I broke my hip,” she explained.

“I went from the hospital in a wheelchair to the crematorium – it was horrid.”

Speaking about her late husband, Mrs Quibell explained how they met in their early 20s in “an amazing courtship” followed by “an amazing life together” after 56 years of marriage.

“I was already in my nursing capacity, and sometimes when I came off duty, I would find Michael sitting in the hallway waiting for me,” she said.

“We had an amazing life.

“All marriages aren’t always just wonderful, especially not over a long period, but we weathered anything that we came across.”

Michael and Caroline Quibell were married for 56 years after meeting in their early 20s (Caroline Quibell/PA)

She added that he “always had a smile on his face” and he was “a kind and gentle man”.

“I was very lucky to have known him,” she said.

Mrs Quibell’s husband suffered with MND for seven years, which she described as “starting with a pain in his foot which gradually worked it’s way up his body over five years”.

“It was a progressive illness which is horrid, it’s wicked,” she said.

“It needs to have more people looking at how it could be helped.”

When asked what it was like to care for her husband, Mrs Quibell said: “To begin with, when it was in the initial stages, it was easier to cope with, but when he became very disabled it became more difficult.

“He was brave, he always had a smile on his face.

“I promised him I would do it, so we faced it together.”

Caroline Quibell said she is feeling ‘nervous’ ahead of the Great North Run on Sunday (David Bartholomew Photography/PA)

When asked how she will feel after completing the challenge, cheered on by her children and grandchildren, she said “quite accomplished” but she will have to “wait and see how my emotions are”.

“I’ll feel, I’ve done it, and I can now perhaps relax a bit,” she said.

“I don’t know if I’ve been grieving by doing it, or whether I shall feel better when it’s over.”

She added: “Not only have I been feeling emotional, but all my children have been feeling emotional as well.

“He was an amazing father to all of them, he was just wonderful.”

To visit her fundraising page, go to: justgiving.com/page/caroline-quibell-1689709306493