An Aberdeen woman has taken on an emotional fundraiser in memory of her husband, who died of an aggressive brain tumour aged just 46.
Louise Milner, 45, along with friends and family, walked from Crathes to Culter, a small section of the original Kiltwalk event which fell victim to the pandemic, to generate cash for The Brain Tumour Charity yesterday.
Her husband Chris Milner died last summer soon after doctors discovered he had gliboblastoma.
Mrs Milner said: “My husband died quite suddenly last year from a brain tumour.
“He got the diagnosis at the beginning of June, and died on July 9, so we didn’t really have that much time at all.
“Chris led a very active life, he was a very social guy, but towards the end of February he started getting tired, and that tiredness just started getting worse and worse until the start of June when he just didn’t have any energy at all, and we had tests done and it went from there.
“A lot of the time, people will get severe headaches or be very sick, but Chris didn’t have anything like that so all we did was visits to the GP initially, and they didn’t detect anything.
“So last year was really a bit of a whirlwind. I hadn’t even heard of The Brain Tumour Charity, but we started to get involved with them.
“We took part in a walk last year and had a lot of donations, so we set up a supporter group for the charity.
“Obviously fundraising so far this year has been a bit of a disaster because of Covid-19, but we are now getting back on track and starting various fundraising events for the charity.
“We want to make money for research into these high-grade tumours.”
Thousands take part in virtual Kiltwalk
Thousands of Scots staged a tartan takeover this weekend as they took part in this year’s virtual Kiltwalk.
More than 13,000 participants took part in the three-day-long virtual version of the annual event, which ended yesterday.
Participants were challenged to get active in whatever way they wanted, while adhering to the current restrictions, to raise funds for charities of their choice.
Kiltwalk CEO Paul Cooney said: “It was amazing to see so many people getting involved in our virtual event. Our fantastic Kiltwalkers brought some cheer to their local communities over the weekend and their Kiltwalk Kindness will deliver a welcome boost to Scottish charities when the funds they’re raising are distributed later this month.”
Proceeds raised through the event will be topped up by 50% by the Hunter Foundation to assist the hundreds of charities left struggling following a loss of income due to the pandemic.
Sir Tom Hunter of the Hunter Foundation, underwriters of The Kiltwalk, said: “I know we’ve not been able to walk together this year which is a shame, but my goodness, have you folks in Scotland got out, hopped, skipped, jumped and walked for the charities that you care about, and it’s brilliant.
“There has never been a time when the folks who need it most need your help, and Scotland has come together.
“So far, this year we’ve helped over 900 different Scottish charities and raised £3 million – that’s £1.5 million from you and £1.5 million from The Hunter Foundation.”
