Man to run to Tiree and back in a week to honour sister's memory

Harry McTaggart, 27, has set himself the challenge to take on seven marathons in seven days, a total of 309km, to raise funds for the Beatson Cancer Charity and The Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research centre.

The challenge will take him across the West Coast, running roadside until he reaches Oban to take the ferry to Tiree. From there he will run to Caolas and back to the ferry terminal before setting off for home.

He is doing so to mark a decade since the passing of his older sister Monica, who died of Leukaemia in 2016 age 20. 

The McTaggart family are frequent visitors to Tiree. Harry’s aunt and uncle built a home on the island, and from then on Harry and Monica’s dad would visit with the children up to three times a year. 

It holds a special place for Harry as a home away from home, and was the place of many amazing memories between him and his sister.

To Harry, Monica was his "best friend", and "biggest supporter". Her cancer journey was hard on the family, but the Beatson made what was an awful 14 months much more bearable. 

Harry said: "Monica was vibrant, so funny and she had to have an opinion on everything, which was usually the right one!

"Everyone used to think she was telling me off, but it was always good advice.

"The whole time she was going through the illness, she was trying to reassure people she was okay and making them comfy. That’s the type of person she was.

"We spent a lot of time at the Beatson, my mum especially was there most of the time, and I would mostly try visit every day after school.

"For the three weeks before she died it when it was terminal, we basically lived there at the hospital. I got to know the Beatson well and it’s a wonderful place despite the awful situations which happen there. 

"The team there made such a hard time manageable."

Unfortunately, Monica’s leukaemia was too serious for her to travel to the island, and she never got to return after her illness.

The year after her death, Harry took his mum to Tiree for the first time. 

"It was nice to put colour to the stories for her," Harry said. "Monica was speaking about Tiree a lot when she was in hospital but couldn’t go, she would have loved to have been went one last time."