Bereaved mother Emma Webb, who has raised huge amounts of money for charity in memory of her daughter, was presented with a cheque for £750 from John Whitaker at Your Horse Live.
Emma’s daughter Brodie, a talented showjumper, died by suicide four years ago when she was just 16.
Since Brodie’s death Emma has undertaken several fundraising challenges to raise money for two charities, Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide and Riders Minds, as well as raising awareness of mental health in young people.
At Your Horse Live, Emma received the cheque from John on the Equine America Stand. John was at Your Horse Live, which took place at Stoneleigh Park earlier this month, to launch his new book ‘John Whitaker – the legend’.
For each copy sold, John is donating 50p to Emma’s fundraising efforts. So far, 1,000 books have been sold so the cheque included £500 from those sales as well as the £250 he received for raffling one of the books.
Walking with royalty
Emma has raised over £70,000 so far from the three endurance challenges she has embarked on since Brodie’s death.
In 2021, Emma raised more than £10,500 by walking 285 miles – a mile for each life lost to suicide in Wales in 2020, including her daughter’s.
Last year, Emma pulled Miles, an 80kg life-size resin horse on wheels, from the David Broome Event Centre in Chepstow to the ExCel London. She completed the 160-mile journey in time for the start of the London International Horse Show.
She garnered much media attention when Prince William joined her for a small portion of the walk, helping her to pull Miles for around 25 minutes.
At the end of September, Emma walked 140 miles from Newport in South Wales to Birmingham while pulling Miles in a challenge entitled ‘Hack to HOYS’.
“She was my purpose for living. As a mum of an only child, we were so close. I have all this love inside of me but nowhere for it to go,” said Emma ahead of her latest challenge.
“When you lose the most important thing in your life you can either give up or go on. This is a positive way for me to channel that love and make a difference.
“It means the world to me to raise as much awareness as I can.”
Those who wish to find out more about Emma’s mission in Brodie’s memory, or looking to access mental wellbeing support, can visit doitforbrodie.co.uk.
To buy a copy of John’s book click here.
