Group raise GBP43k in memory of diabetic friend

Relatives and friends of a diabetic woman who died in her sleep have raised an enormous £43,000 for a diabetes charity.
Emily Pearce, a social worker from Crowthorne, Berkshire, died last year from a relatively rare complication of type 1 diabetes called dead in bed syndromen, which some health experts believe is caused by night time hypoglycemia (a large drop in blood glucose) triggering disturbances in heart rhythm .
Emily, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2002, had planned to run the 2013 London Marathon to help raise funds for national charity Diabetes UK. But one night in April 2012, she went to sleep and never woke up.
“Emily always managed herself very well so it was not something we worried about,” said her sister Alison.
“Normally you get symptoms and can have sugar but for some reason it happened so quickly with no responses - it was completely unexpected.”
Alison explained that following her tragic death, some of her friends and family got together and decided to run the marathon as a group to raise money for Diabetes UK in her memory.
The group of 14, including 34-year-old Alison and her partner Iai, set a fundraising goal of £30,000. But this week they revealed that they exceeded their target by more than £13,000.
“It was her previous fundraising efforts for the charity as well as what happened that inspired the team to raise money,” Alison added.
“Emily and I were very close - we were friends as well as sisters. She was a very caring person and that was evident in her career. She was always caring about her friends and just a fun person to be around and always smiling.”
Alison and her group of diabetes campaigners now plan to continue their fundraising efforts to help raise awareness of the more common type 2 diabetes.