Heroic Harborough swimmer completes English Channel challenge - just months after her younger sister died of breast cancer

An heroic Market Harborough mum has taken part in a gruelling relay swim across the English Channel - just months after her younger sister died of breast cancer.

Kirsten Braham, 45, is thrilled after conquering the rock-hard 25-mile endurance test alongside her Pink Wave team-mates Andy Foster, Laura Small, Shaun Woodward and Adam Boon.

She has now raised almost £6,000 for two top charities, Breast Cancer Care and Orchid Cancer Appeal, after her much-missed sister Alison passed away aged just 39.

“It was absolutely amazing, totally magical.

“Swimming the English Channel is without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the best thing at the same time,” said Kirsten.

“I really did feel that Alison was there with me.

“And I’m sure that if she’s looking down now she’ll very proud of me as well as the rest of our magnificent crew.”

The super-fit mum-of-three said they raced across to France in an excellent 13 hours 48 minutes – after fearing that it would take them up to 20 hours.

“We all did three swims each, rotating every hour.

“It was crazy because we had to wait all week down there to get in the water and do it as the weather was so bad,” said Kirsten, a teaching assistant at St Joseph’s primary school on Coventry Road, Market Harborough.

“We finally got started at 9.55pm on Friday August 20 in the pitch black.

“Andy got us going at Samphire beach between Dover and Folkestone.

“He was followed in by Laura, Adam, myself and then Shaun.

“I was being sick before Andy even started swimming, it was such a rough ride from the harbour to the beach!

“And I was still being sick when I jumped into the sea to swim myself – hardly the best of starts.

“That obviously made it even harder,” admitted Kirsten.

“But I got my head together and got through it.

“And as we were swimming we were kept company by porpoises, seals and dolphins travelling alongside us – it was just incredible.

“I actually swam into the sunrise as we headed towards the French coastline.

“It was simply stunning, so beautiful.

“The channel was so busy with ships and boats all over – and we all got stung by jellyfish.

“I swam the final leg on to Wissant beach, which juts out along from Calais,” said the keen wild water swimmer.

“Once I realised that I’d be finishing this astonishing adventure I just cried all the way in – it was so emotional.

“I only had two minutes on the beach to celebrate.

“And then the pilot told us to jump straight back on to the boat,” said Kirsten.

“We had to get straight back to Dover, there was a storm blowing up.

“We all signed a special book in a hotel there to record our feat.

“And we were so shattered that we all went to bed and crashed out before driving home the next day.

“The channel swim was so much harder than swimming in the River Nene because of the tides, the currents and the weather.

“But I loved it because of the brilliant camaraderie that we all shared, we had such a great team.

“I’m also astounded by just how much we’ve raised.

“It’s fantastic to raise almost £6,000 for two such critical cancer charities.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to every single person who has donated, every penny counts.”

And you can still donate on Kristen’s fundraising page here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/PnkWaveChannelRelayTeamVirgin Money Giving | 'Pink Wave' Channel Relay Team