The death of an “inspirational” Rotherham racing driver by suicide has led a group of friends from Sheffield to raise money for mental health in his memory.
Jake Cook, a father of two, had competed in a variety of competitions, including the Formula Ford EuroCup and British Formula Renault Championship. His death led to 14 of his school friends coming together to honour his memory by raising money for the mental health charity, MIND.
His friend Jojo Quattrocchi, 32, said: “It’s been something so tragic but we’ve managed to try and spin that into something positive by running for Jake’s family, for MIND, and just sharing our solidarity for mental health and how we can maybe break these stigmas.”
Miss Parker detailed why they had chosen a marathon to raise money and pay tribute to their friend: “He had competed as a Formula racing driver for his whole life. He was an extremely sporty and inspirational person and I think we thought what more could we do in his honour than a sporting challenge?”
The group decided to start a fundraiser for the mental health charity, MIND, to help increase awareness of men’s mental health. Men make up 80% of suicides that happen in the UK each year.
