Dalai Lama Trek: Jared’s promise to wife Caron to see the world in her memory

A team of intrepid trekkers are set to embark on an adventure of a lifetime in India, as they take on our very first overseas charity challenge! A group of 23 supporters are taking on the iconic Dalai Lama Trek this month – a fantastic five-day hike through the foothills of the Himalayas.

Dad-of-two and business owner Jared Noblett has signed up for the challenge after promising his beloved wife Caron he would live life to the full and travel the world in her honour. Caron, who ran a Leyland-based aerial and satellite installation company with Jared, was diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, and was cared for on our inpatient unit in March 2017.

Jared, 42, from Leyland, has since taken part in a number of fundraising feats for the hospice, including our Moonlight and Memories Walk and the Morecambe Bay Walk – and says the Dalai Lama Trek will be the most poignant and special of them all. This is his story:

Caron spent two weeks in St Catherine’s Hospice, and her final days were made all the more better and superior because of the wonderful care she received, and how amazing the staff were to her, me and our family.

Spending her final days in St Catherine’s, where she was comfortable and where her pain was under control, gave us chance to say everything we wanted, and she told me to make sure I looked after her daughter, our grandchild, and myself.

She told me to do exciting things, and go to the places we had planned to visit together. She was 55 and was aiming to retire in five years and see the wonders of the world. So when I saw the India challenge advertised on Facebook, I just instantly thought ‘this is something I need to do for her’.

I’m going for Caron, and I’m looking forward to the experience, but more than anything I’m doing it to raise money for St Catherine’s so that other people can have the same opportunity we had to spend that precious time together at the hospice. I’d do this every day to give people the experience we had in my wife’s final days.

The walk will be a challenge but I feel ready for it – I’ve been doing a lot of walking over the last couple of years since Caron was diagnosed.  I was advised that walking and getting some fresh air is a good way of coping with grief, and it does help.

I imagine I’ll get quite emotional at seeing the Taj Mahal – it’s going to be out of this world. It was one of the wonderful places Caron wished to visit, and it will be at the end of the trek so it will be very meaningful and emotional for everyone I think.

There’s a good mix of personalities but we’re all doing this for similar reasons; we’re all there to spur each other on and help each other out. We’ve been on some training walks as a team already, which has been a good way to get to know each other.

I’m excited about seeing different parts of India and experiencing how people live there. To be honest my biggest concern is being without a signal on my phone during the five-day hike in the Himalayas! I’m used to waking up and checking my emails straight away, so that will be weird for me, but I’m sure it will do me the world of good.

To follow the Dalai Lama Trek team’s progress throughout their journey, follow us on social media @stcatherinespre – and if you’d like to support the group, you can leave good luck messages and sponsor them here.

We’re working with Global Adventure Challenges to host this exciting trip and places are now full, but please email fundraising@stcatherines.co.uk to let us know if you’re interested in hearing about any future exciting overseas challenges with St Catherine’s.

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