Cadet runs for tragic war hero Sheldon

A volunteer army cadet from Mirfield has raised £270 in honour of her friend who died in action in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Instructor Ashleigh Craig, 22, ran the Jane Tomlinson 10km Run in York on August 4 along with her boyfriend Adam Thomas, to raise money for the Rifles Regimental Trust.

Their close friend, Rifleman Sheldon Steel, was serving with the regiment when he lost his life while on duty in the conflict in 2011.

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Ashleigh, from Sunnybank in Mirfield, said: “We just don’t want to let Sheldon’s tragic death be the end of it, we want to make sure that he is never forgotten and that we continue to support the Rifles Charity in his memory.

“I know that Sheldon would want us to carry on supporting such a worthwile cause.”

Adam, also 22, said: “We just want to make sure that we raise as much money as we can to support Sheldon’s ex-colleagues from the Rifles who need our help and I am sure that he would do the same if he was still with us.”

Adam is an ex-Army cadet from Seacroft Detachment and is now an Army Reservist with 269 Battery of the Royal Artillery, based at Carlton Barracks in Leeds, while Ashleigh continues to volunteer for the Bradford Army Cadet Force.

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Their achievement has now inspired Ashleigh’s father, Lieutenant John Craig of the Yorkshire Army Cadet Force, to take to the race track himself in the name of charity.

“I have now committed to do a 10km race next year in memory of Sheldon,” he said.

“And I can assure you that at my great age of 52 and with my lack of fitness at this point, that is no mean feat!”