July 2026
When Kate Evans takes on the Sydney Marathon next month, every step will be for her mum Marie, who was paralysed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Fifteen years ago, a normal school day ended in near tragedy for 13-year-old Kate when her home city of Christchurch was struck by a massive earthquake.
Mum Marie had just picked up a pair of shoes during her lunch break in the city’s Central Business District when the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck at 12.51pm sending the entire façade of the building crashing down.
“Mum was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Kate. “It was ten seconds that changed everything.
“She had been crushed under the debris and might have been left there but thankfully a wonderful rescuer, Cam Stewart, led the effort to rescue her and get her to hospital in the back of police car.
“When the earthquake hit, I was at school and we were all moved onto the playing field and, for some reason, apart from being scared, I just had this awful feeling that something was wrong.”
Kate and her dad Petter waited over five hours before learning Marie was alive but seriously ill in hospital with multiple injuries, including traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.
The 2011 earthquake, which killed 185 people, left Marie paralysed from the chest down. After months in hospital and at the Burwood Spinal Unit, she came home to an adapted house and a very different life.
Kate, who now works as a radiographer at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, said: “It was a very tough adjustment and I certainly grew up very quickly.
“But mum has been so incredibly resilient and I’ve nothing but admiration for her and how she has coped and lived her life since then. She really is my inspiration and my dad has been a real rock too.
“I really would not wish this injury on anyone. The daily challenges you have to face are so tough and it takes such a toll on the rest of your body, as well as mentally and emotionally.”
Kate, 28, discovered running while living in London for three years and will tackle her first marathon in Sydney on August 30 in aid of Spinal Research and in honour of her mum.
“I wanted to set myself a goal and to support all the amazing research that is taking place around the world to improve the lives of people like my mum with spinal cord injuries.
“It will be tough but any pain I feel is nothing compared to what mum goes through daily and I will be thinking of her all the way.”
