THE family of a 30-year-old Fermanagh man living with incurable brain cancer has so far raised more than £4,000 for Cancer Research UK by undertaking a sponsored walk up Cuilcagh mountain.

Unable to partake in the full walk himself last Saturday, September 5, due to his poor health, Alex Wilson joined his family on the boardwalk to accompany them as they took their final few steps back down the mountain.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about the day of the sponsored walk, Alex’s wife, Jade Wilson, said: “It was lovely. Obviously, we wanted to do the whole walk but Alex wasn’t fit for it on the day so we decided that we’d go and meet them at the end, and it was nice to be able to go up Cuilcagh in the jeep.

“It was nice for Alex to get up and get out for the day to feel that he was a part of it.”

The sponsored walk was organised by Alex’s aunt, Wendy McSorley, and more than 20 of his family members took part on the day, including his mum and siblings.

When asked what it meant to the family to be able to have Alex join them for the final few steps, Wendy said: “It was just great - we’re celebrating that he is here and he’s still fighting this illness.

“We know that this is a life-limiting illness that he has, we’re under no illusion about that, but he is with us and he’s here and I think it’s so important to celebrate that and to do something positive.

“I Facetimed Alex when we got to the top so he could see the top, as misty as it was, and his mum left a stone with his name on it at the top just to say that he’d been there in spirit. For him to be there just made it,” she added.

On Monday of this week Alex turned 31, and last Saturday the family had a little birthday celebration for him when they had completed the sponsored walk.

Jade said: “It was nice that they did it [the walk] around then and they went back to his granny’s then and we had a wee cake. It was a bit of a celebration at the same time.”

The family are “thrilled” with the amount of money donated through the GoFundMe page. Wendy said: “We have more than £4,000 donated for Cancer Research UK, which we’re absolutely delighted with, absolutely thrilled.

“It’s amazing - I can’t believe how much people have donated. It means a lot that people are very supportive of a very good charity and they’ve supported us in doing that, so it’s been fantastic.”

Highlighting that the GoFundMe page will remain open for a few more weeks (donations can be made via https://gf.me/u/ypsffa), Wendy continued: “At the end of the day, Cancer Research UK were the ones that designed the drug which has extended Alex’s life, so far.

“The most difficult part is that Alex had to restart chemo last week because the cancer has spread to the other side of the brain. Another tumour has come up, and the news wasn’t very good last week, so I think the walk was something positive to look forward to, and something positive we all felt we could do because we can’t change the diagnosis, we can’t change what’s happening to Alex, so we just wanted to do something.

“You feel so powerless and we just wanted to do something positive. His granny came out, she was in the car and met us when we came down.

“It was just a really good family day to do something purposeful in a time of such uncertainty,” Wendy told this newspaper.