Man with terminal cancer takes on Thames Path walk

It is 18 months since Jasper Dix suffered a seizure - which led to the discovery of a brain tumour that will, one day soon, kill him.

Emergency surgery saved his life, for now, and he's determined to make the most of it.

As an Oxford graduate, and with many friends and family in the area, Jasper has known various parts of the Thames Path.

Now, the 27-year-old from Cambridge is walking its entirety - 185 miles (297km) - between the two May bank holidays to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity.

A three-time Oxford Blue in the Varsity rugby match and a keen hiker, Dix said he started thinking about ways to get involved with the charity last September.

He was working in Amsterdam when he had his first seizure in December 2024, and shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour with a low life expectancy of one to five years.

So far he has undergone nine months of treatment.

He said he wanted to find a way to raise the profile of the disease and to raise money for research.

"Apart from just sore legs, I feel fine," he said.

"This is one of the things... whenever I tell people I'm unwell, and terminally unwell, they don't believe me.

"At the moment the only thing that's making me feel sick is the treatment itself."

There is a core group walking every day, but only Jasper is walking the entire route.

He began the journey on Monday 4 May at the source just south of Cirencester in Gloucestershire and will take him through Oxford and Berkshire an on to the capital.

"It's a great way of while i'm feeling fine now, just making the most and it's a cliche but you do only live once and you have to seize the day," he said.

"It's been great fun."

His mum, Katy Dix, said: "People have been so generous and so kind.

"The love we've felt is amazing and that just keeps you going through everything."

"The way he's just taken it on the chin he's incredibly stoic.

"He may not have as long as he wanted in his life, but he's going to do something good with it and that just makes us incredibly proud."

His walk which has already raised tens of thousands of pounds will finish at the Thames Barrier in London on Monday 25 May.