Determined to pull together and support each other through such an unimaginably difficult time, Oli's brother Ben and sister Ali joined forces with their parents and Oli's many friends to pay ongoing tribute to their loved one by taking up Oli's fundraising baton.
Together, Oli's family and friends have so far raised more than £62,000 to help Headway support families living with the devastating effects of brain injury across the country. The amount raised will fund a Headway Acute Trauma Support (HATS) nurse for a whole year to ensure even more families have support, advice and a listening ear while their loved ones are in hospital at the earliest stages following a brain injury.
Headway currently has two HATS nurses, based in the West Midlands and North West of England, who provide emotional and practical support to families and often deliver specialist guidance for those whose loved ones remain in critical care or high dependency units.
On 20 November 2015, Oli's family and friends marked the two year anniversary of Oli's passing with an annual tribute fundraiser, the 'Oli-ympics', which sees scores of supporters tackle a series of events in Australia where Oli lived during a gap year.
"It was Oli’s charitable nature that motivates us all to fundraise in his memory," said Oli's brother, Ben.
"Oli was the most generous and caring person anyone could wish to know and he really would do anything for his family, friends or a complete stranger. Given his character it is no surprise to us that he would selflessly empty his pockets for a street collection or run the London Marathon in memory of his school friends Will Shepherd and Tom Fletcher who both tragically passed away."
In 2009, Oli sadly lost another of his close friends, Tom Donaldson, who died after sustaining a head injury in New Zealand. Oli and Tom had undertaken numerous charity fundraising activities together over the years and, after Tom’s passing, Tom’s family and friends identified Headway as a charity that could make a genuine difference to preventing and supporting people who sustain head and brain injuries.
"Oli helped to organise fundraising activities in Tom’s memory, including a now-annual charity football tournament called the TD Cup," said Ben.
"Given Oli's support of Headway and the fact that he himself was sadly taken from us as a result of a head injury, we knew that we needed to continue his support for this charity. If we can help Headway to save lives through the prevention of head injuries and put a smile on people's faces in the process then it will be worthwhile. We know fundraising for Headway would make Oli proud.
'Loved by so many people'
"Life without Oli is very difficult for our family and his close friends. It is often hard to find the motivation and focus to undertake fundraising events, but they have been very rewarding in the long run.
"Oli’s main passion in life was having fun, whatever the situation, which is probably why he was loved by so many people. Everyone tries to put his spirit into any fundraising events we organise with ‘fun’ as the number one objective. Organising the Sky Ball that we held at Derbyshire Cricket Club was definitely the most stressful of our pursuits, but it was amazing to see 330 people in high spirits, having an absolutely brilliant night to support people with brain injuries and toasting Oli with smiles on their faces.
"Obviously the smile objective is a little hard for those trying to complete a punishing long distance assault course, marathon or 100-mile bike ride. But there has always been family and friends in support of those doing these punishing events: be it support on the sidelines, hugs at the finish-line or just buying participants a well-earned drink afterwards. We are a team and we are doing it all for Oli.
"From Derby to London to Sydney the number of events and people fundraising in Oli’s memory has been staggering. It is really important to point out that none of the events would have been able to make such a big difference to Headway without the hundreds of people that have supported them to date. The level of support has genuinely been unbelievable.
"Life will never be the same without Oli, but we have found that one of the strongest healing tools is friends and family getting together and supporting each other through fundraising events. Training for sports events, preparing for fundraisers and the big days themselves are all opportunities to laugh and smile at our many memories of the fantastic years with Oli and all of his achievements."
- To donate in memory of Oli Farrell, please visit www.justgiving.com/remember/93584/Oli-Farrell
- Download a list of fundraising events held in Oli's memory below.
