‘It destroyed our family’ – Sara Cox makes heartbreaking tribute to her brother who died suddenly

As Sara Cox recovers from her amazing Children In Need marathon challenge, the BBC are honouring her remarkable achievement by airing a documentary covering her epic journey.

Sara Cox: Every Step of the Way for Children in Need follows Sara announcing and preparing for her challenge, all the way through to triumphantly making it to the finish line - she meets some of the incredible people helped by Children In Need projects along the way.

As well as witnessing the Radio 2 DJ's gruelling run first-hand, viewers see a side to the presenter she doesn't often reveal, during the one-off film.

Sara opens up about the relentless childhood bullying that made her "avoid walking or running in front of anyone," - tormenters targeted her "wonky legs" and "turned in knees."

The documentary sees her dedicate her journey to fellow victims of bullying, and also to a very special person - her bother, David.

Addressing gathering crowds cheering her on, Sara says, "I'd like to mention my big brother David, who we lost in 2019. He was a real ironman, and incredible athlete, and I'm hoping I've jut got a bit of strength from him today."

David died on December 6, 2019, aged 56, due to an unknown underlying heart condition. His funeral was held at St. George's Church in Chorley, Lancashire, on December 23.

A funeral announcement in the Bolton News just after David's death read: "Beloved partner to Linda, a loving son, father, brother, uncle and dear friend to many. Sadly missed."

David's family set up a JustGiving page to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in the days after his death.

Speaking further about her brother in the BBC documentary, Sara says emotionally, "My brother David died really suddenly in 2019, and it really destroyed all our family."

She adds, "It came out of nowhere. He was a real athlete, he ran countless ironman competitions. He was proper. I don't think he'd be able to believe that I'd be doing this."

Offering emotional support along he way, Sara's best friend, Clare Hamilton surprised her by turning up at one of her rest points, to offer hugs and friendly chat.

Sara was even offered tips on how to keep going by Duane Johnson, AKA The Rock. "When I get tired, the thing I think about is, 'how am I going to feel if I don't push through this?'" he told her.

The DJ even developed her own mantra that she repeated during her challenge, when she felt overwhelmed.

"I am fit, I am strong, I'll be home before too long," she can be seen uttering to herself as she runs.

By way of humorous explanation, Sara says, "If you see me, I'm not muttering incantations if my lips ae moving as I go along. I might be chanting that to myself to keep me going."

And she did keep going, and she made it to the end - raising an astonishing £10 million as she went.

What would her brother think of her marathon challenge? "I think he'd be super proud," she says.

Sara Cox: Every Step of the Way for Children in Need airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on November 19 at 8pm.