Jess Young

Everyone connected with Berwick speedway sends their condolences to the family of Jess Young who died today in hospital near her Surrey home.

Jess, aged 34, was our special guest when Glasgow Tigers visited Shielfield in May as part of her “Make memories before goodbyes” tour of speedway tracks.

She suffered a serious relapse of a particularly aggressive form of leukaemia having previously been in remission after battling the disease a couple of years previously.

During the winter she announced her decision to have only palliative care, prompting friend and Kent Royals promoter Si Kellow to launch a funding page to allow Jess and her 14-year-old daughter Natalie to complete a “bucket list” including visiting as many speedway tracks as possible.

Long-time friend and Berwick fan Lesley Redpath was the chauffeur for the May tour which also took in Edinburgh and Newcastle with Natalie making that month’s 5-1 Draw on the centre green.

The pair were in attendance again when the Bullets travelled to Kent last month with Natalie acting as track photographer and her pictures being used to illustrate match reports on this website and in our matchday magazine, The Dirt!

News of Jess’s death was announced on her Facebook page this morning.