Goodbye Claire, Hello Misty

Today I said goodbye to my dear friend Claire Pearson who was an inspiration to so many and fighter til the end.

Medical Detection Dogs dog in training Misty joined friends from the charity and Claire’s retired diabetes assistance dog Pal made a guest appearance.

It was standing room only at Claire’s service attended by family, friends, medics, nurses, several of us from the MDD volunteers including my Bae representing the Castle along with dog trainers and fundraisers. We all shed some tears at the service as we said goodbye followed by smiles as we shared our memories afterwards.

Claire and I met when she came to Leeds Castle for a Christmas photoshoot in August 2016 and from there we became friends and I later became a volunteer for the charity.

Claire battled with illness her whole life being diagnosed with type one diabetes at 6 years old. Pal changed her life around 12 years ago when he became her medical assistance dog allowing her to go out with confidence that he would alert her to high or low blood sugars before she passed out.

Claire and her hubby worked tirelessly to fundraise and raise awareness for the charity bringing on new volunteers and ambassadors.

Claire left us too soon after a bout of bronchitis and her immune suppressed body just couldn’t fight anymore. She will be much missed by so many and was a true inspiration. Claire leaves behind a legacy and I hope many volunteers continue promoting MDD off the back of her introduction.

I was touched to get a response on twitter by one of the charity ambassadors Lesley Nicol aka Mrs Patmore. See link here.

Claire I will miss you always.