Karl deserves all the support he can get for his final wish

Aged just 19, Karl has only got weeks left to live after being diagnosed with a rare cancer that can no longer be treated.

But rather than just accept his fate the teenager from Southsea is calling on the people of Portsmouth to help him make a difference to the lives of others by fundraising for a charity which has helped him and his family deal with Karl’s illness.

Charity CLIC Sargent provides emotional and physical support to families of children with cancer – and that charity has supported Karl and his loved ones since his diagnosis at the age of just 16.

The charity provided the Skinner family with a social worker who they have described as ‘a godsend’, and arranged for them to visit Disneyland.

Now off chemotherapy Karl wants to make helping the charity the last thing he does.

‘I can’t explain how amazing my social worker Kate has been and the charity has done everything from arrange day trips for us to bringing pizza to me in hospital,’ said Karl.

Charities have taken a bit of a hammering of late and have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

But without charities this country would struggle to provide for those who are in need of a little cheer in their time of need.

Only last week the people of Britain raised millions for Sport Relief.

We are a giving nation when it comes to charity and Portsmouth as a city is up there with the best of them.

If you take a moment to think about what CLIC Sargent has done for Karl and his family, it shouldn’t be too hard to make Karl’s final wish come true.