A Dumfries dad has raised more than £35,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity as he prepares to walk the Southern Upland Way for a cause close to his heart.
Widower Alan Johnstone will start the 214-mile trek on Friday, June 10, to honour his late wife Anneka who died of a glioblastoma brain tumour in November 2019 at the age of 33 just six months after her diagnosis.
The 37-year-old told the Standard the challenge will be tough but nothing compared to what Anneka went through.
Alan, who works as a medical engineering technician, said: “It was such a cruel thing to happen to one of the best people.
“Nobody had a bad word for Anneka. She was loving, caring, committed and just an all-round amazing person.
“I was the lucky one that got a chance to spend so long with Anneka but it should have been so much more. It’s horrifying to watch the person you love the most going through something like that, with the tumour slowly taking each part of the person within until ultimately she passed away.”
The dietician’s first symptom was feeling dizzy before falling with daughter Sienna in May 2019. After tests ruled out a variety of conditions a CT scan and biopsy confirmed the awful news.
Alan said: “By this time Anneka had lost movement in the left hand side of her body. It basically paralysed her.
“It’s devastating to watch the one you love try to deal with that. When we went back to Edinburgh for the results our fears were realised.
“We all broke down and travelled back home. All Anneka could say to me was that she wanted to see Sienna grow up, her 18th, 21st and get married. We were all obviously heartbroken.”
After a courageous battle following radiotherapy, and with family constantly around her as she fought the illness, Anneka passed away in November 2019.
Alan said: “It’s almost unexplainable how difficult it was to deal with. And at the end of the day it wasn’t me going through it, it was Anneka. All she seemed to be worried about was family, myself and Sienna. She was so selfless.”
Next week Alan will aim to raise as much as he can for The Brain Tumour Charity after Covid-19 scuppered his first attempt in 2020.
A TikTok video went viral recently which helped add to the total.
Alan said: “The TikTok helped massively. We had plenty raised beforehand, there was £27k raised before the TikTok went a bit nuts then three days later I had an extra £5,500 raised and so far over £7k since then.”
To donate to the cause please go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/southernupland wayinmemoryofanneka.
