Hannah's 1Mile Swim
10/11/2007 - Great lengths for our Maddie
When Hannah Bignall swims to raise money for children's brain tumour research tomorrow, she will be doing it for her cousin Maddie.
Hannah, ten, from Keyworth, lost her cousin to a brain tumour and said goodbye at her funeral on Tuesday.
The pair were the same age, grew up together and were as close as sisters.
After Maddie's tragic death, Hannah and her mum saw a poster about the Million Metre Swim at a swimming gala at the University of Nottingham.
The event will raise money for Nottingham's Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre and will be held at four baths tomorrow.
The aim is to raise £100,000 for the charity to fund vital research and treatment of a disease which accounts for 25% of all childhood cancers.
The event will see around 625 swimmers notch up a total of one million metres, with each participant swimming one mile.
Hannah's mum, Nicola, said: "We saw the poster about the sponsored swim and it was almost like it was fate. I said to Hannah, 'have a read of this, do you think you can do it for Maddie?'.
"Hannah and Maddie were so close and that's why Hannah wanted to do something in Maddie's memory."
Hannah, who competes for Nottingham Leander Swimming Club, said: "I've never swam this far before but I am looking forward to it because I can do it at my own pace.
"I will swim 64 lengths which I do in my training sessions, I usually stop in between lengths at training but I think I can do it."
The Bignall family will be cheering Hannah on, at Beechdale Swimming Centre, wearing Notts County shirts with Maddi's name on the back.
Maddie Bignall, from Aspley, was a big Notts County fan and her wake was held at Meadow Lane.
More than 1,200 has so far been pledged for Hannah's swim. Nicola said: "The first target we set was 250 but it went past that quite quickly. We had sponsor forms at Maddie's funeral and £500 was collected there. "It's amazing how generous people can be."
* This story has been copied from the Nottingham Evening Post, picture supplied by the Evening Post
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