A crowdfunding appeal has raised more than £8,000 in just six hours to fly charity fancy dress runner Mary Taylor back to the UK following her death in Dubai.
In a Facebook post her family shared the news over the weekend that she had passed away in the UAE, just months after moving there to work as a hairdresser.
Mary, 40, made the national headlines during the pandemic by doing a daily run around Silsden for 100 days, wearing a variety of fancy dress costumes.
She raised thousands of pounds for Airedale Hospital and put smiles on people's faces through the lockdown.
Mary's sister Joanne Edwards wrote on social media: "This is a post we never ever wanted to write. But unfortunately our beautiful, funny, crazy Mary Bear Taylor has passed away in Dubai. We’re all absolutely shocked and devastated."
Andy Thompson, Mary's stepfather, put together a GoFundMe appeal to bring her back home to Silsden. He said: "She was a hard working and thoughtful woman, dedicated daughter, sister and mother. As the tragic news was delivered and which we as a family have struggled to come to comprehend and absorb we now accept that we will not see Mary again in this life; she was taken from us far too early as it came to pass that on Friday 13th January 2023 whilst living in Dubai Mary passed away and grew her wings."
He added: "I am certain what her friends and even acquaintances would want to see is for her to be brought back home. We can not bear the thought of Mary being all alone in a foreign country with nobody to show there compassion and love to her in person.
"I think everyone who knew her would agree that the she was the life and soul full of joy, laughter and happiness, she was definitely a socialite and the heart of our community, her spirit for happiness and the lengths she went to make others happy and smile was second to nothing I have ever before or likely to ever see or bear witness to again and for this reason then we propose to bring her home. This is where you all come in and what I am hoping will be a joining of souls who can give a little towards helping our mission to bring back Mary."
The appeal target of £8,000 was raised within six hours and has since surpassed that.
Many tributes have been paid to Mary across the weekend via the Silsden Buzz group on Facebook.
This is a post We never ever wanted to write. But Unfortunately our beautiful, funny, crazy Mary Bear Taylor has passed...
Posted by Joanne Edwards on Saturday, January 14, 2023
Mary Taylor from Silsden has been running every day throughout December in a different fancy dress costume 🏃♀️
— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) December 20, 2020
But that's not all she's been up to...🎄 pic.twitter.com/uu8PqC7MXr
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