Portsmouth family to complete 10k walk to raise cash for Brain Tumour Research in memory of beloved dad Mick Hansford

Mick Hansford, 59, died on May 13 this year after being diagnosed with a brain tumour just over a year before.

The beloved family man’s battle saw him contract Covid-19 and spend almost a month on a ventilator at the end of his radiotherapy treatment at Queen Alexandra Hospital last November.

Mick and his wife Jackie were able to spend their last Christmas day together on the ward before his discharge in January, when he enjoyed a brief recovery before the tumour led to a fatal decline in his health.

Now more than 40 friends and family members will raise funds for a tumour research charity by walking from Eastney Swimming Pool to Old Portsmouth’s Round Tower on New Year’s Day – on what would have been Mick’s 60th birthday.

Jackie said: ‘I wasn’t keen on running a marathon and Mick comes from a big family so this way everyone can take part and we can remember Mick in our own way, including how he was such a lovely man and always so knowledgeable about everything.’

The walk will raise money for Brain Tumour Research, the only national charity in the UK singularly focused on finding a cure for brain tumours.

Mel Tiley, community development manager for the charity, said: ‘We’re so sorry to hear that Mick died shortly after his diagnosis. We’re incredibly grateful to Jackie and the Hansford family for choosing to fundraise in his memory, on what would have been a milestone birthday for a much-loved husband and father.

‘The family’s experience reminds us that research is desperately needed to help better understand brain tumours and ultimately, fund a cure.’

In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with brain tumours, which kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

Anyone wishing donate to the family’s ‘Walk of Hope’ can do so by visiting justgiving.com/fundraising/mick-hanford.

A message from the Editor, Makr Waldron

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