Worksop boy’s marathon in honour of dad – killed by a brain tumour when he was just two

Christopher Wilson lost his dad Daniel Wilson to brain cancer when he was just two and decided to undertake the 26-mile slog for charity Brain Tumour Research and Support (BTRS).

Speaking about his father Christopher said he had ‘missed him a lot’ and was fundraising so that others ‘would not experience my experiences’.

Daniel, a health and safety manager, died in 2011, aged 36, - just seven months after doctors found five inoperable tumours in his brain after suffering skin cancer years before.

Christoper, along with canine pal Jessie, 3, raised £600 for the charity in honour of his dad - breaking the walk down into sections over the course of a week.

Gifted student Christopher - who said he started to understand what happened to his dad aged four to five - said: “It was quite hard but walking it with my dog and my mum helped.”

Speaking about Christoper’s walk mum Suzanne Wilson said: “I’m really proud of him - especially because he already works so hard at school.

“He’s given up his free time to do this - I think his dad would be proud of him too.”

Dad-of-two Daniel was diagnosed with brain cancer following his collapse shortly after completing the Great North Run in 2010.

He had been raising money for Cancer Research UK after suffering skin cancer five years earlier.

Tragically, Daniel and his family were completely unaware at the time of his run that the cancer they thought he had beaten had spread to his brain.

Daniel’s wife Suzanne told how her husband’s original diagnosis came about after a mole on the back of his head started to bleed - leading to its removal and check-ups.

However years later in the lead-up to his charity run in 2010 he started complaining of pressure in his head and extreme sensitivity to noise - when a scan eventually revealed the terminal diagnosis.

Suzanne told how the eventual scan which revealed the deadly tumours came after numerous attempts to convince medics something was wrong with her husband.

However five days before Christmas, Daniel collapsed and was rushed to hospital and given the dreadful news - but by that stage her husband no longer recognised his family and didn’t know his own name.

She said: “It was just disbelief - he went from having headaches to having a brain tumour.

“From that point on I didn’t have a husband any more.”

Melanoma can spread to the tissue which lies underneath the skin, the lymph nodes, and to other organs such as the lungs, liver, to bone or to the brain.

Suzanne said husband Daniel had known about the mole at the back of his head for far too long before doing anything about it and urges others to have them checked.