The family of a popular late Shetland businessman are off to Berlin for a 100km challenge in his memory this weekend.
Harry Jamieson, a well-known figure around town who started and managed a toy shop and department store on Lerwick’s waterfront throughout his working life, sadly passed away last year having developed a degenerative heart condition.
His family – son Stewart, daughter Elaine and grandsons Haydn and Shane, along with Shane’s girlfriend Natalie Timberlake – are each going to run just over 20km in Germany on Sunday (3 April) to raise funds for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS).
The health charity funds pioneering research and provides essential support to communities across Scotland. Someone suffers a heart attack in Scotland every 55 minutes on average, and every 45 minutes someone will have a stroke.
Following an operation to repair heart valves, Harry suffered a stroke in May 2015 and was unable to recover.
Harry’s family said that he had been “blessed with good health all of his life” before “medical conditions that we had given little thought to all of our lives had suddenly taken one of the people dearest to us”.
After his death, warm tributes were paid by Lerwick Spurs FC, the Lerwick Up Helly Aa committee and Lerwick Port Authority, which he chaired latterly – reflecting the diverse range of interests he pursued within the local community.
The Shetland Stroke Support Group is affiliated to CHSS, and Elaine said the family really wanted to support the excellent work the charity does.
Up to 30,000 people will take part in the Berlin half marathon this weekend. The temperature is forecast to be around 15C, which will feel positively tropical in the wake of a Shetland winter, and the Jamiesons have been in training since January (“with a small break for Up Helly Aa”, Stewart smiles).
So far 173 donations totalling well over £5,000 have been pledged online. It means that, when gift aid is factored in, the family has already raised a remarkable £6,612.57 – more than double the initial £3,000 target they set.