COLLEAGUES of a police officer who lost his daughter to epilepsy tackled a unique weight-lifting challenge in her memory on Sunday.

Tragic Hayley McGurk was just 20 when she died suddenly at her home in Cardenden in July after suffering from a fatal epileptic seizure, a condition she'd had since the age of 10.

Heartbroken dad Bernie, a champion power lifter, admitted that "every day is a nightmare" without Hayley, herself a keen sportswoman who excelled in athletics.

Last month, he decided to take up an offer to compete for Great Britain at the Western European Powerlifting Championships in Spain in memory of his daughter and to raise awareness and cash for Epilepsy Scotland. His workmates then decided to pitch in.

The team, who are also keen rugby players with Dunfermline, gathered at McKane Park to take part in a "rugby walk", where between them they carried 650kg weights over 20 lengths of the pitch.

A variant of the “farmers walk” training technique used by strongman competitors, the weight represented the total number of kilos Bernie lifted during his power lifting career, while 20 lengths of the pitch was chosen to represent Hayley's age.

Bernie said, “The support that I've had has been overwhelming and I can see now that it has helped me big time. For people to do this off their own back is just unbelievable and if it can raise awareness and even help one person then it has been worthwhile.

“A lot of people might not know what to do if someone has a seizure, or that there are different types, because it is not out in the public domain. Raising awareness is just as important as raising money for the charity to carry out research.

“Hayley had epilepsy from when she was 10 and it was controlled until she was around 16 when the fits started to increase to a few a day. It was totally out of the blue; she was healthy and a good athlete.We knew about SUDEP (sudden unexplained death in epilepsy) and it was on the back of our mind, but there was nothing to make us think there were any major problems.

“But it is more common than I thought so I am indebted to the boys for doing something like this to make people more aware of it. They came up with a scenario I think is quite fitting as Hayley used to help me in the gym with my training. It is comforting to know how well thought of she was.”

Bernie's friend, Scott McGillvary, said: “We were thinking of ways of fund-raising and promoting awareness about the condition at training one night and it was Kevin Dalglish who came up with the idea.

“What happened to Hayley resonated with a few of the boys because 11 years ago, Fife Lions rugby league club lost Andy Kerr at 21 in very similar circumstances. Hayley was a member of the West Fife Athletics Club and a keen athlete, but it shows the danger of living with what can be a ticking timebomb.

“Hopefully we can raise awareness and give a little bit of support to the family.”

Bernie, along with Hayley's mum Alana Johnston and sister Abbie, have undertaken a host of fund-raising ventures and have so far raised between £11-£12,000.

If you would like to donate, visit Bernie's just giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/Bernie-McGurk.