#LforLewis

[Mr Mac]

Virgin trains #LforLewis

Story from the Herald 

This young man worked at Waverley,his courage is inspiring: this is the second time he's been told he has weeks to live. Still he's determined to raise as much as possible, awesome to see not only his employer but the whole railway family supporting him.

A RAIL worker who has terminal cancer said he was "overwhelmed" as he was joined by well-wishers and supporters for the arrival of a train bearing his name on the side of the carriage.

Lewis Vaughan, 32, left the Marie Curie hospice in Edinburgh to travel to the city's Waverley Station as the Virgin train with the hashtag #LforLewis pulled up to the platform.

Mr Vaughan was diagnosed with testicular cancer last April and now has secondary lung cancer and several brain tumours. He is thought to have just weeks to live.

The former customer service assistant with Virgin Trains became a social media sensation after posting photographs online of him wearing various novelty hats, including one in which he made an L shape with his finger and thumb.

Friends and family began posting similar pictures in support and the campaign has since led to thousands of pounds being raised for Marie Curie.

Mr Vaughan, pictured with young supporters Chloe, Lily and Mylie, said: “I’m absolutely blown away, just overwhelmed by the positive and generous human nature of this.

“I didn’t plan a fundraising campaign, it was just something to keep myself occupied during my illness.

"There’s an online concept of taking pictures of yourself every day, in the same place and with the same background for a year. I had planned to take a photograph of myself with a different hat on every day and it just evolved from there.

"I could have put depressing status updates on Facebook but instead I wanted to put up pictures that would be a pick-me-up for myself and other people in the same situation.

“I’m so thankful for everything that everyone has done.”

Dozens of rail workers, passengers and friends and family members joined Mr Vaughan as the Virgin train arrived in Edinburgh, on its way from Inverness to London, at 11.17am yesterday morning.

Adrian Bayne, a Virgin Trains driver and colleague of Mr Vaughan, added: “Lewis has united a workforce in his courageous fight with cancer. He has been a good friend and it's been an honour to help him with the Marie Curie fundraising."

For more information, visit Lewis' fundraising page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/displaySomeoneSpecialPage.action?pageUrl=Lewisvaughan

 

 

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