{"id":416939,"date":"2025-09-11T22:51:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/416939\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T22:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:51:25","slug":"devastated-mum-to-walk-edinburgh-kiltwalk-in-memory-of-son-after-brain-tumour-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/416939\/","title":{"rendered":"Devastated mum to walk Edinburgh Kiltwalk in memory of son after brain tumour battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashley McKenzie\u2019s six-year-old son Jaxon died just eight months after being diagnosed with a rare brain stem tumour.\"Mum,Mum, Ashley, Dad, David with Jaxon and his sister Ayda<\/p>\n

A heartbroken mum <\/a>whose six-year-old son died just eight months after being diagnosed with a brain stem tumour <\/a>is set to take on a charity <\/a>walk in his memory.<\/p>\n

Ashley McKenzie\u2019s<\/a> little boy Jaxon was a healthy, happy youngster when he suddenly developed slurred speech and a limp over the course of a weekend last year.<\/p>\n

Tests revealed the Broxburn boy had a rare and inoperable brain stem tumour<\/a>, diffuse midline glioma, in April 2024.<\/p>\n

\"JaxonJaxon with his family(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Despite undergoing 13 gruelling sessions of radiotherapy, brave Jaxon lost his fight on December 14, just two weeks before his seventh birthday.<\/p>\n

Determined to keep his memory alive, Ashley and husband David <\/a>set up Jaxon\u2019s Gift to help families facing the nightmare of a childhood cancer <\/a>diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Ashley, who works at Aldi\u2019s Scottish head office in Bathgate, will join six of her Aldi Scotland colleagues on Sunday for the 11-mile Big Stroll at the Edinburgh Kiltwalk to raise vital funds.<\/p>\n

\"LittleLittle Jaxon(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Remembering the devastating moment doctors broke the news, Ashley said: “Everything happened so fast. One weekend Jaxon was running around like any other little boy, and the next we were told there was nothing they could do to cure him – only prolong his life as long as possible. Our world fell apart.”<\/p>\n

During Jaxon\u2019s illness, the family were supported by Young Lives vs Cancer<\/a>, who provided a specialist car seat, financial advice, memory-making trips and even an iPad to help him through hospital visits.<\/p>\n

Ashley added: “The help we received from Young Lives vs Cancer <\/a>during Jaxon’s illness was incredible – from financial advice and equipment to memory-making trips.<\/p>\n

\"AshleyAshley with her colleagues(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Setting up Jaxon’s Gift is our way of being part of that wider charity <\/a>network and giving back.<\/p>\n

“We couldn’t save Jaxon, but through Jaxon’s Gift we can make sure other families are supported in those weeks, months and even years of a childhood cancer <\/a>diagnosis.<\/p>\n

“If we can positively impact even one family, I’ll know Jaxon’s name lives on – and that’s what keeps me going.”<\/p>\n

The heartbroken mum <\/a>praised her colleagues, saying: “The support from everyone at Aldi has been incredible. From texts checking in, to getting involved in fundraising, they’ve been by my side every step of the way – and they’ll be by my side for the Kiltwalk.”<\/p>\n

Anyone wishing to donate to the charity can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ashley McKenzie\u2019s six-year-old son Jaxon died just eight months after being diagnosed with a rare brain stem tumour.Mum,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[44073,748,93414,12450,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-416939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-bathgate","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-broxburn","11":"tag-charity","12":"tag-edinburgh","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115188117991924267","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}