The boyfriend of tragic marathon runner Claire Squires has spoken about the moment he found out that she had collapsed and died during the London Marathon.
Simon van Herrewege, a social carer in a nursing home, was stood alongside Squires' sister and her friends at the finish, waiting to cheer the 30-year-old hairdresser across the line.
Tragically, she never made it, dying 300 metres from the end near St James’ Park.
Van Herrewege eventually received a phone call, instructing him to go to a nearby hospital.
Speaking to The Sun, the 31-year-old said: “I thought she had twisted an ankle or something, and I ran and flagged down a taxi.”
When he got to the emergency room, medical staff informed him that Squires was dead.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he told the newspaper. “She was such a fit and vibrant person.”
Speaking of the last time he saw her, Simon said: “I gave her a kiss and said to her ‘I love you more than words can say’.”
He added: “She smiled and then she was gone. She was woo-hooing with joy as she ran off. Everyone was looking at her. That was the last time I saw her alive.”
After Claire’s death, Simon and her sister Penny, 28, were taken to see her body.
She looked so beautiful. There was not a mark on her.”
Following news of her death, Claire’s Just Giving page was inundated with donations, collecting more than £1m for the Samaritans.