Islander gets back in the boxing ring in memory of her brother

Wednesday 01 November 2023

Just three weeks after competing in her first white-collar boxing fight, Katherine Vardon lost her brother to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. Nearly seven months later, she is getting ready to re-enter the ring – this time in his memory.

Katherine, a Wealth Manager at RBC, said her first fight was "overwhelming".

"The training camp is 10 weeks of intense training. You're training three nights a week," she recalled. "Even getting in the ring to spar when you've never done it before - it's daunting."

She described asking herself: "What on earth have I done?"

Pictured: Katherine described her brother Robert as a brilliant friend and a great uncle.

But, she explained, going through the training proved to her that she can take on this massive challenge - and even enjoy it.

She lost the fight, but it was close - with a split decision from the judges.

"Three-and-a-half weeks after I'd done that, I lost my brother," she said.

"He couldn't make my first fight and I told him he could come to the next one. Obviously he couldn't make it."

Katherine is raising money for Mind Jersey, a charity that Robert support after he had faced his own mental health issues. She was keen for the money she raised to stay in Jersey, and she found no SADS-related charity that operated locally.

Pictured: Katherine has been training five days a week, putting in extra sparring sessions, in preparation for her fight.

She said that after her brother's death, boxing helped her with her mental health and her grief.

"He was only 30," she said. "He was fun, outgoing, always smiling. He would help anybody out. Everybody liked him that met him.

"He was a brilliant friend, he was a great uncle to my daughter."

Katherine described Robert's death as "a complete shock".

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, also known as sudden adult death syndrome, is a condition where an adult dies from cardiac arrest – but there is no obvious cause for the cardiac arrest. Robert had no known health issues, she said.

Pictured: Katherine has been training five days a week for her upcoming fight – having gone from a first-time sparrer to a regular in the ring.

For this fight, Katherine said she was training even harder than last time - with five sessions a week, including sparring.

"I've put a lot into this - time, training, doing extra sparring, and getting myself as ready as I can be," she said.

SUPORT...

Katherine's fight will take place on Friday 17 November, and she will only find out who her opponent is shortly before the start.

You can donate to her fundraiser online HERE.