THE HUSBAND of a popular Marlow nursery worker whose sudden death shocked the town last year has smashed the fundraising target he set himself following the loss of his wife.

Alison Clarke, who along with her husband Chris had been involved with youth projects in Marlow for around 17 years, died in June after suffering extensive brain damage following an epileptic fit.

Her death sparked an outpouring of emotional tributes from Marlovians, with over 550 people packing out All Saints Church for a memorial service.

Chris then vowed to raise £10,000 for Wycombe Hospital’s Intensive Trauma Unit where his wife spent six days before she passed away.

And the 32-year-old, who shared Alison’s love of working at youth clubs and events around Marlow, said he is amazed by people’s generosity after exceeding his target in just nine months.

He said: "Due to the amazing care Alison and my family received from the ITU unit at Wycombe hospital we set about raising money to donate to the unit to improve patient, nurse and family facilities at the hospital.

"Before I left the hospital I told one of the nurses I would raise £10k for the unit and at the moment we are over £12k!

"90 per cent of this money is from donations from friends and family and 10 per cent is from fund raising. It’s just amazing people’s donations!"

Alison's mum passed away after a battle with cancer aged 36 when she was just 11.

She met Chris when she was 15 and the couple got married in 2007.

After attending Foxes Piece School and Great Marlow School, Alison later went to Henley College to get her child care qualifications and later secured a job at Marlow Day Nursery.

For nearly half her life the nursery worker was also involved in helping run youth clubs with her husband in Marlow.

And for the past eight years both Alison, Chris and her younger brother Michael helped run the Friday night Xtreme youth club which was run by members of her church MCF Community Church based at Foxes Piece School.

But in June, the epilepsy sufferer had a fit which caused her heart to stop and as a result suffered extensive brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

After spending four nights camped out in the family area of Wycombe ITU to be there for his wife, Chris saw first hand the areas that could benefit from extra funds.

Plans for the unit include a library for training ITU nurses, TVs for the ward and family room and a furniture including a sofa bed for visiting family members.

Chris and Alison’s family are also keen to produce ITU information packs to help family understand better an area of the hospital that can be daunting, confusing and traumatic.

The family plan to present the cheque from their fundraising efforts to staff at Wycombe ITU in the near future.