Suzie, better known on track as #1408 You Better Rum, sadly passed away unexpectedly on Saturday 23rd March 2024.
Suzie joined Durham Roller Derby in 2022 and her passion and determination meant it was not long before she was a rostered skater, playing in our Five Nations 2023 season. Suzie’s love for the sport and her motivation to continue to develop herself saw her travel to other trams within the region to train and play with them, and when she wasn’t on the track, she could always be found in the stands cheering the teams on. Not content with developing just her own skills and spreading her love for derby, Suzie also coached Newcastle Junior Roller Derby, and mentored many of our new skaters through their journey.
Suzie’s passing left a huge hole in the hearts of the roller derby community, and within our team. We’ve created this page to share some of our favourite photos and memories of Suzie to look back on when things get tough. Please feel free to share your own memories below.
Skate free, Suzie xxx
Suzie’s first official headshot – of course she brought props! 
One of the only indicators that this was a Halloween scrim – she wasn’t messing about when it came to fancy dress! 
Sports day 
Playing in Glasgow 
Friendly scrim in York 
Axe throwing for our Christmas party! 
One To Watch award 2022 
Stopping off at Gretna Green on the way to a game at Glasgow 
Best Jammer in our Halloween scrim 
Our first Five Nations game 2023 
Secret Santa 2023 
Suzie was game for anything roller derby related 🤣 This was one of all of our lots first scrims I think 💜 
Winning our final Five Nations game of 2023 
Northern Roll 
Northern Roll 
The one where we went to Newcastle and everybody got COVID 
Road trip to York 
Bar Stool Preachers in Edinburgh 
When everyone stopped in Edinburgh due to Chelsea’s popped tyre 
This was new intake day almost exactly 2 years ago when we were all in awe of Suzie whizzing around track 
Ramp and Camp! 
Keeping Suzie with us on the bench in Belfast
One response to “Remembering Suzie”
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My last memory of Suzie was at our footage watching session just one week before we lost her. She was so excited about the creation of the B team, and she had BIG plans about how she wanted to go for captaincy.
Suzie was such an amazing ambassador for roller derby – her entire family became a key part of our cheer squad at games, especially her wonderful Nanna and Dad!
I think of Suzie often, and we miss her terribly x
Durham Roller Derby 
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