Running a Marathon in Luke's Memory

Last autumn, you may recall us sharing the sad news that Luke Hussey had passed away after a short illness. Luke was a warm, lively, and insightful young man who had a lifelong love for rivers. As well as working in river restoration, he spent much of his free time volunteering with environmental charities, including our own.

Shortly after Luke’s passing, his family generously donated £1,785 to the Wild Trout Trust — a thoughtful and deeply appreciated gift. Since then, Luke’s brother Ryan Hussey has decided to further celebrate his life by running the Leeds Marathon in his memory. In doing so, he has very kindly chosen to raise funds for our charity.

Luke taught Ryan to fish when they were younger, and their family has many cherished memories of these times together. We’re so grateful that Ryan is taking on this challenge, and helping us to care for the kinds of places that Luke loved to visit and worked tirelessly to protect.

Below, Ryan shares his thoughts on honouring his brother’s memory. If you can, please consider supporting his marathon fundraiser — your donation will allow us to make a difference for wild trout and their rivers.

Ryan’s story

Hi, my name is Ryan Hussey and I am 24 years old. I have been an engineer at a pharmaceutical company for eight years. On 10 May 2026, I will be running the Leeds Marathon in memory of my older brother, Luke.

Luke was a kind and gentle soul, which everyone who knew him could attest to. He was always generous with his time, especially for the things and people that mattered to him. This is shown by the time he spent volunteering with the Wild Trout Trust, trying to make the environment and ecosystems a better place.

Being Luke’s brother will always be a privilege for me. We shared many interests in terms of sport and fishing. We were competitive, as brothers are, but we always knew how much we loved one another. We wanted to see each other strive and do the best we could. That, among other reasons, is why this marathon is so important to me: I want to do whatever I can to help an area Luke put so much time and care into, with the Wild Trout Trust.

For me, it made sense to take on the Leeds Marathon. Luke lived near Leeds, and with the marathon being close to his birthday, it felt like the right time. My main hope is to make Luke and my family proud by running and raising some funds for a charity he cared about.

I have never run a marathon before, so this is new territory for me. With the training plan I am following and the motivation of doing Luke proud, I am excited to undertake this challenge. Currently, I am on week six of my 19-week training plan. I am using an app called Runna, which generates all kinds of different runs as practice, like hill runs, tempo runs, and of course long-distance runs.

I am feeling a bit nervous about the marathon, as it will inevitably be a challenge I have never faced before. The unknown of taking on the 26-mile race, including the elevation, will be hard. I’m also excited by the purpose and reason behind doing this. It will mean so much to me and my family, as it’s something Luke will be incredibly proud about.

The amount of support my family has received during this time has been amazing, which I can only thank people for. We all really appreciate it and will always remember this through these hard times. On the day of the marathon, my family will be there cheering me on, which will be the biggest support I could ask for.

Going forward into this challenge, any donations will be so greatly appreciated. I aim to raise close to £1,000 for the Wild Trout Trust. This would be very meaningful for us, as it would go a long way in helping them to continue their valuable work, which I know would make Luke very happy.