Need to know
Merseyside mum Tarita Gore was inspired by her son
Everything you need to know as St Helens mum Tarita Gore raises £10,000 from cage fighting
- Inspired by her son, Tarita, 50, who is mum to Shauna, 33, Aiden, 30, Brooklyn, 23, Tia-Rose, eight, and Levie, also eight, told the ECHO this week how her fighting story began in 2019 after a “terrifying” cancer scare. Tarita started experiencing chest pains and after a number of hospital tests a CT scan revealed lung nodules, which doctors feared could be cancerous. Thankfully, following further scans it was confirmed the nodules are stabilised.
- The scare hit her and her older children very hard, especially her oldest son, Aiden, because they are very close. At the time, Aiden, who has practiced martial arts since he was aged four, told her she had to fight – so she did, literally. And, at nearly 50 years old she has now channelled her fighting spirit into MMA.
- Tarita, from St Helens, has had to fight from a young age, seeing her mum suffer from domestic abuse and growing up in a series of foster homes. She told the ECHO how she had a “rough life” which caused her to suffer with anxiety and depression. Some days she struggles to even leave the house. It was Aiden who helped her front her mental disorders.
- But it was her youngest son, “cheeky and happy” Levie, who is autistic and non-verbal, who inspired her to fight for charity and she has now raised £10,000 for her chosen charities. Tarita, who is Levie’s full time carer, says most days Levie has challenges and struggles. He shows her what it’s like to fight every day so she challenged herself to sign up for an Ultra charity event, an MMA competition, in his honour.
- Tarita raised money for St Helens Young Carers, Cancer Research UK, MIND and Child Autism, charities close to her heart. So far, Ultra Events has raised a staggering £42 million for charity.
- For anyone inspired by Tarita’s story to take part in an Ultra MMA event, the next event for those in St Helens takes place on Friday, July 10. More information can be found on the Ultra website.
