The funeral of PC Matthew Blades gave his family, colleagues and the public a chance to say goodbye. But just days later, another tribute revealed something even more personal about the 37-year-old officer: a friend decided to complete a challenge that Blades had planned to undertake himself.

Daragh Burke, Blades’ close friend, ran the Great North Run in his place after the officer was killed in the A66 crash. Blades had registered for the half marathon as part of a fundraising effort for Parkinson’s UK, but he never got the chance to stand on the starting line. Burke stepped in with only around two weeks of preparation, wearing Blades’ vest and carrying his friend’s intention forward.

It was a small act compared with the scale of the funeral ceremonies.

But emotionally, it may have said more than any formal tribute could.

Blades had made a plan.

His friend refused to let the plan disappear.

That is the kind of detail that transforms a public tragedy into a personal story.

The wider circumstances of Blades’ death were already shocking. He and fellow Cleveland Police officer Tom Clough were killed on August 22 when their marked armed response vehicle collided with a Volkswagen Pᴀssat travelling the wrong way along the A66 near South Bank, Middlesbrough. Five young men in the other vehicle also died.

Within hours, the tragedy had become a national story.

But national stories can sometimes make individuals disappear inside the scale of the event.

The funerals reversed that.

At Blades’ funeral in Hartlepool, hundreds of police officers gathered. Standard bearers representing every UK police force attended, while members of the public lined the streets. His colleagues wore patches carrying the names of Blades and Clough, ensuring that both officers remained visible throughout the ceremony.

Blades was remembered not simply as an armed response officer.

He was a husband.

A father.

A friend.

A youth football coach.

And a man remembered for bringing warmth and humour into the lives of others.

That description makes Burke’s decision to run in his place even more significant.

The Great North Run was not simply another public tribute. It was a continuation of something Blades had intended to do while alive.

It created a connection between the person he had been before the tragedy and the memory of him afterwards.

That connection has appeared repeatedly throughout the aftermath.

For Tom Clough, the connection was visible at his funeral through the presence of Army veterans who had known him during his military career. He had served in the British Army, later worked in policing roles and eventually joined Cleveland Police. His final farewell therefore brought together people from several chapters of his life.

For both families, public support has been extraordinary.

An official fundraiser pᴀssed £1.2 million, while police representatives said the response had come from across the UK and internationally.

The generosity has become one of the defining features of the aftermath.

People who never met the officers donated.

People who never worked with them attended the funerals.

And people who knew them personally found their own ways to remember them.

That difference is important.

Public memorials tend to focus on what someone did.

Personal memorials focus on who someone was.

Blades’ friend did not need to give another formal speech. He simply ran.

Every mile became a reminder of the plan his friend had made.

Every step carried the memory of someone who should have been there.

And the timing made the gesture especially poignant. The run came shortly after Blades’ funeral, when his absence was still painfully fresh.

The wider A66 story remains complicated. The crash killed seven people, and investigations continue into the circumstances surrounding the collision. The funerals of the other victims have also drawn large crowds and, in some cases, heightened police attention because of concerns about disorder.

That broader context should not be forgotten.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pc-matthew-blades-funeral-a66-crash-police-middlesbrough-b3047302.html