A beloved mother-of-two who lived in Surbiton and worked in Tolworth was commemorated by her sons in a charity football match yesterday (1 August) to raise funds for sepsis research.

Sue Martin had been battling a rare form of bone marrow leukaemia since October 2019 before she unexpectedly died of sepsis at the age of 63, five days before Christmas last year.

Sue's son Stephen Epathite, with help from his brother Richard, hosted #MatchForMum: an 11 v 11 game to honour Sue's life and to raise money for charity Sepsis Research FEAT.

The match will took place at Molesey Football Club, located in West Molesey - just across the bridge from Hampton Court Palace and near to where Sue was born.

Speaking ahead of the match, Stephen, 34, said: "My favourite memories of my mum are when she'd drive me and my brother on the weekends to play in football tournaments and matches all around London, singing at the top of her lungs to Annie Lennox in the car.

"She was always there for us at every football game - rain, snow, thunder - she was always there."

The competing teams are made up of close friends who had a connection to Sue and are managed by Stephen, who is the first team coach at semi-pro team Banstead Athletic Football Club, and his brother Richard.

The event was attended by Sue's past friends, colleagues and family members as well as others whose lives have been touched by sepsis.

Stephen said he never anticipated how much coverage the event would get, saying the memorial had ballooned out of control when Radio Jackie became involved. You can listen to the interview here.

Radio Jackie presenter Jacqui Kerr said: "Football is a beautiful game and it's an absolutely beautiful thing Stephen is doing to bring awareness of sepsis.

"Through things like this you suddenly find out how many people actually have been affected by sepsis who haven't spoken to anyone else about it."

It was only after Sue passed away that her sons were told that sepsis, caused by an ungradable bed ulcer, had been the cause of her death.

After Sue's funeral, Stephen discovered Sepsis Research FEAT - the only UK charity dedicated to funding research into the illness.

Stephen and Richard's "brave, courageous, beautiful" mum, Sue

Sue grew up and attended school in Teddington, spending much of her time in Twickenham and Richmond before marrying and moving to Berrylands, Surbiton, and was living in Guildford at the time of her death.

She worked at Marks and Spencers in Tolworth, where she would often organise coachloads of her colleagues to be taken to the West End to see all the latest musicals.

Sue was also a member of The Cinema Club, loved rugby and football, enjoyed a drink of wine or gin with her friends, and could also be found visiting garden centres, going on cruises or attending concerts to see the likes of Michael Bublé and Celine Dion.

Stephen said: "My mum lived for the moment, loved being around her friends and loved spending time with my brother and me.

"Her biggest love was the West End; she was absolutely in love with musicals and often went three nights a week to see whatever was out with her friends.

"She just enjoyed life and didn't take anything too seriously; she always had the attitude that tomorrow was another day.

"She was never negative; she always found the silver lining and every problem had a solution.

"She never expected us to hit the heights of being rocket scientists, but instead just wanted us to be happy - and as long as we were happy, she was happy."

Raising awareness of sepsis

Sepsis is caused by the immune system's response to infection, overreacting by triggering widespread inflammation which can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death.

Jacqui, who has a degree in pharmacy, pointed out that while 100,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the UK, there are 50,000 people that die from sepsis every single year.

She explained that the response of the immune system attacking the body is so similar that they've actually aligned Covid-19 and sepsis research so that they can work together to solve this problem.

Stephen described how his grandmother also died of sepsis at 63, the same age as Sue and within the same month as her daughter.

One of the key issues around sepsis is a lack of awareness of the five major symptoms, which include: high/low temperature, uncontrolled shivering, confusion, passing little urine/diarrhoea and blotchy or cold arms and legs.

It is easy to mistake sepsis for a flu or urinary infection, but the body's immune system goes into overdrive and those who do not receive the right antibiotics can die within hours.

Stephen said: "They call it the silent killer; it can kill you within hours without warning.

"Anyone can get it: newborn babies, elderly people - it doesn't discriminate."

Donate to Stephen's JustGiving page here.

For more information about Sepsis Research FEAT visit its website here.