For the past few years, I have been complaining about the lack of coverage of figure skating in the Northern Ireland media. Like, the most successful Ladies skater in the history of the British Championships (Jenna McCorkell) is from our wee country. Yet, when Jenna won her 10th British title in 11 years, the only mention she got in the “Belfast Newsletter”(the main newspaper in Northern Ireland) was a single sentence.
Well, last night I found out that for the past few weeks the “Belfast Telegraph” (another of the “Big 3” newspapers in Northern Ireland) has been running a series of figure skating stories.
Unfortunately, it is not good news, though.
The stories have been about Katie Allan (now Scarbrough), the 1996 British Junior Ladies champion. Katie is originally from Gilnahirk, just to the south of Belfast. But for a number of years she has been living in Lichfield in Staffordshire, England with her Scottish husband, Stuart Scarbrough, and their 2 young children.
This is where it gets upsetting.
Katie has terminal bowel cancer. And they reckon she might only have a few weeks left.
Let’s put things in perspective – Katie only turned 32 a few weeks ago. She is younger than Pang Qing; younger than Fumie Suguri; younger than both Sinead and John Kerr; younger than Fabian Bourzat.
Although she is older than Akiko Suzuki (the current oldest Ladies skater competing on the international circuit), Katie is still young in the real world! And very young to be facing a terminal illness!
Since last July, Katie has been keeping a blog about her battle with cancer, which can be found at http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/
If you want to see Katie in action on the ice, she has uploaded a few videos of herself onto YouTube:
Katie Allan – 1989 Northern Ireland Open:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA9iIlPb4ho
Katie Allan – 1995 British Juniors SP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofUQtFcVdPI
Katie Allan – 1996 British Juniors SP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLu1kmWmG5M
Katie Allan – 1996 British Juniors FS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqNNQ9Ld-Zg
Katie trained at Dundonald Ice Bowl, which was Northern Ireland’s main ice rink for many years (it is also only 2 miles from Gilnahirk! ). On Saturday night, there was a special ice gala held there for Katie to raise funds for 2 cancer charities, Bowel Cancer UK and Cancer Research UK. It was organised by Kerry Greer, and Jenna McCorkell was the headline performer.
Unfortunately, I only found out about Katie’s story yesterday when Jenna was tagged in a photo on Facebook. So, I did not know about the gala, otherwise I would have made sure I was there!
This is a very sad story, and my thoughts obviously go out to Katie and all her family and friends. But, it is good to see that she is making the most of a bad situation, and that her skating friends are rallying around her.
CaroLiza_fan
Links
Katie's Skating Profile:
http://lmcca.co.uk/katie/
Katie's cancer blog:
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/
Bowel Cancer UK:
http://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/
Cancer Research UK:
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
Belfast Telegraph 19th February 2013 (front page of newspaper, as shown on Katie’s blog):
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/katiescarbroughfront.pdf
Belfast Telegraph 19th February 2013 (continuation of story on page 8 of newspaper, as shown on Katie’s blog):
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/katiescarbroughpage8.pdf
Belfast Telegraph 20th February 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...brough-on-the-fight-of-her-life-29079160.html
Belfast Telegraph 8th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...-ice-gala-to-honour-brave-katie-29114807.html
Belfast Telegraph 25th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/editors-viewpoint/katie-an-inspiration-29151540.html
Belfast Telegraph 25th March 2013 (photo of newspaper story, as shown on Kerry Greer’s Facebook):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/482339_10151393277191312_1333929867_n.jpg
Belfast Telegraph 26th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...oves-for-brave-katie-scarbrough-29151494.html
EDIT: Katie also has a fundraising page for the 2 charities she is supporting. It can be found at
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Katiescarbrough
Well, last night I found out that for the past few weeks the “Belfast Telegraph” (another of the “Big 3” newspapers in Northern Ireland) has been running a series of figure skating stories.
Unfortunately, it is not good news, though.
The stories have been about Katie Allan (now Scarbrough), the 1996 British Junior Ladies champion. Katie is originally from Gilnahirk, just to the south of Belfast. But for a number of years she has been living in Lichfield in Staffordshire, England with her Scottish husband, Stuart Scarbrough, and their 2 young children.
This is where it gets upsetting.
Katie has terminal bowel cancer. And they reckon she might only have a few weeks left.
Let’s put things in perspective – Katie only turned 32 a few weeks ago. She is younger than Pang Qing; younger than Fumie Suguri; younger than both Sinead and John Kerr; younger than Fabian Bourzat.
Although she is older than Akiko Suzuki (the current oldest Ladies skater competing on the international circuit), Katie is still young in the real world! And very young to be facing a terminal illness!
Since last July, Katie has been keeping a blog about her battle with cancer, which can be found at http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/
If you want to see Katie in action on the ice, she has uploaded a few videos of herself onto YouTube:
Katie Allan – 1989 Northern Ireland Open:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA9iIlPb4ho
Katie Allan – 1995 British Juniors SP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofUQtFcVdPI
Katie Allan – 1996 British Juniors SP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLu1kmWmG5M
Katie Allan – 1996 British Juniors FS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqNNQ9Ld-Zg
Katie trained at Dundonald Ice Bowl, which was Northern Ireland’s main ice rink for many years (it is also only 2 miles from Gilnahirk! ). On Saturday night, there was a special ice gala held there for Katie to raise funds for 2 cancer charities, Bowel Cancer UK and Cancer Research UK. It was organised by Kerry Greer, and Jenna McCorkell was the headline performer.
Unfortunately, I only found out about Katie’s story yesterday when Jenna was tagged in a photo on Facebook. So, I did not know about the gala, otherwise I would have made sure I was there!
This is a very sad story, and my thoughts obviously go out to Katie and all her family and friends. But, it is good to see that she is making the most of a bad situation, and that her skating friends are rallying around her.
CaroLiza_fan
Links
Katie's Skating Profile:
http://lmcca.co.uk/katie/
Katie's cancer blog:
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/
Bowel Cancer UK:
http://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/
Cancer Research UK:
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
Belfast Telegraph 19th February 2013 (front page of newspaper, as shown on Katie’s blog):
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/katiescarbroughfront.pdf
Belfast Telegraph 19th February 2013 (continuation of story on page 8 of newspaper, as shown on Katie’s blog):
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/katiescarbroughpage8.pdf
Belfast Telegraph 20th February 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...brough-on-the-fight-of-her-life-29079160.html
Belfast Telegraph 8th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...-ice-gala-to-honour-brave-katie-29114807.html
Belfast Telegraph 25th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/editors-viewpoint/katie-an-inspiration-29151540.html
Belfast Telegraph 25th March 2013 (photo of newspaper story, as shown on Kerry Greer’s Facebook):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/482339_10151393277191312_1333929867_n.jpg
Belfast Telegraph 26th March 2013 (website story):
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...oves-for-brave-katie-scarbrough-29151494.html
EDIT: Katie also has a fundraising page for the 2 charities she is supporting. It can be found at
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Katiescarbrough