A big-hearted truck driver and his eight-year-old daughter are planning a sponsored run to raise money for a multiple sclerosis charity.<\/p>\n
Brian Edwards, 46, who works as a shunter at the McCarthy Group, a haulage and warehousing company based on Wrexham Industrial Estate, was diagnosed with the condition 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
Luckily, he has only very occasionally suffered very minor symptoms \u2013 cold feet in winter and tingling hands \u2013 since it was confirmed.<\/p>\n
He and little Lily, a pupil of Penygelli Community Primary School, in Coedpoeth, are planning a repeat of another fund-raiser they completed over the summer.<\/p>\n
Brian ran a total of 50 miles in a month, mainly around the Moss Valley, near Wrexham, and Lily joined him for around 20 of those miles.<\/p>\n
He raised \u00a3180 for cancer charity Maggie\u2019s which provides support for people who\u00a0 have the disease and their families.<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0 Brian, he was grateful to work colleagues at the McCarthy Group who chipped in to boost the proceeds.<\/p>\n
Brian joined the McCarthy Group 12 months ago when his previous employers, Tomlinson\u2019s Dairies, where he had worked for 27 years, went bust.<\/p>\n
As well as trying to lose a bit of weight, he was also inspired by his father, Alan, to raise money for Maggie\u2019s which has 30 centres across the UK, the nearest being in Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Brian said: \u201cEvery family has a connection with cancer and my dad had prostate cancer two years ago so I thought I would like to give something back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of scare initially when I heard he had cancer because you automatically think the worst but thankfully they caught it early enough and treated it so he\u2019s now okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t done any running before and I wasn\u2019t particularly athletic at school but I thought it would be good for me and a good way of losing a bit of weight. In the event I lost nearly a stone.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaising money for such a good cause and giving something back gave me extra motivation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually work four days on and four days off and when I\u2019m working I finish at 5pm, so I would run a mile after work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was off, I would run three or four miles a day and in total I ran 50 miles, mainly in the Moss Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite a bit\u00a0 of the time Lily came with me and she probably ran up to 20 miles in total. She\u2019s full of energy and she\u2019s a very caring person.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy colleagues at McCarthy sponsored me and I raised around \u00a3180. They\u2019ve all be very supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian has had to put his plans for the next charity fundraiser on hold because he\u2019s cracked a rib.<\/p>\n
But once he\u2019s up and running again, he\u2019s planning to do a sponsored run in aid of the MS Society\u00a0 and Lily is going to be joining in again.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI was diagnosed with it about 20 years ago. I woke up one morning and my left eye had turned in the socket and was facing sideways while my right eye was looking straight ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowly over a period of about a week, it righted itself and came back to normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to see the doctor who sent me for an MRI scan which confirmed it was MS.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have had no real symptoms since then, except for cold feet in the winter and I get tingly hands now and then<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big worry when it was first diagnosed. But it is what it is. I don\u2019t dwell on it and I just get on with things. I can\u2019t do anything about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I can do is raise money for the MS Society and it\u2019s great that Lily will be taking and it\u2019s great that Lily also wants to join in as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s full of energy and a very caring girl who makes me very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managing director Mike McCarthy said: \u201cWe have a great team at the McCarthy Group and Brian has fitted in brilliantly since he joined us last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe and little Lily did a great job in raising money for Maggie\u2019s and it\u2019s all systems go for another sponsored effort. I take my hat off to them both.\u201d<\/p>\n