FUNDRAISING TRIBUTE TO MARTIN

Eight years ago this December, it took just 48 hours for bacterial meningitis to claim the life of Ray and Jackie's 14-year-old son Martin.

Since then, the couple have raised more than 80,000 through their Martin Finch Memorial Fund to fund the fight against meningitis.

Their latest event is their seventh annual gala ball at the Hilton Avisford Park Hotel at Walberton on November 24.

But the pain doesn't lessen, says Ray who lives in Aldwick Felds.

"You try not to let it change you, but you can't go through a trauma like that and it not have an impact. You don't get over it. You just learn ways to cope with life without Martin.

"He was 14. It is difficult to imagine how he would be now. He would have been 22 this year. Part of you is stuck in a time capsule remembering what he was like at 14. All the pictures stop at 14.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette November 30