A man with severe learning difficulties will be walking ten kilometres through London later this month to raise money for cancer in memory of his father.
Oliver Rosenbloom, 26, who is developmentally closer to six or seven, has autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, speech impairments and global delay. He will be taking part in Cancer Research UK’s Shine Night Walk on September 23.
Oliver’s father, Simon, died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 41 when Oliver was five. Last year, Oliver told his mum that he wanted to raise money for his dad by doing a walk.
He told the JC: “My mummy explained to me that daddy wouldn’t get the money because he had cancer, which is bad cells in his body. So, I am going to walk 10k and donate the money to Cancer Research instead.”
He has already raised nearly £1,600 through donations from friends and family.
Living in Redbridge with his mum, Oliver is unfamiliar with the centre of London, but he will be doing the walk with a carer from the daycare service he attends.
An avid walker, he will pass some of London’s most famous landmarks, including Battersea Power Station, Albert Bridge and Buckingham Palace.
Clockwise from top: Sharon, Simon, Oliver, and sister Sophie (Photo: Handout)
“To say that Oliver is excited about the walk is an understatement,” his mother, Sharon, said. “He has been talking about it almost non-stop.”
As well as walking, Oliver loves “anything and everything” to do with sport, especially football, she said.
As for which team he supports, he “supports any team that the person he is talking to supports”, added Sharon.
Oliver also regularly joins his mum for water aerobics classes at the gym.
Sharon, who is an author and grief counsellor, said: “Oliver is the most loving person you could meet. He’s so caring and thoughtful and loves everybody. He really has a heart of gold.”
According to Cancer Research UK, although cancer survival rates have doubled in the last 50 years in this country, one in two people born after 1960 will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
If you would like to donate to Oliver’s Cancer Research UK fundraising page, you can do so here.
