At just 11 years old, Sev Yıldırım is preparing to take on a challenge that would test many adults: walking the entire West Highland Way, 96 miles across Scotland, over 10 days. She is doing it to raise money for the Throat Cancer Foundation, but more than that, she is doing it for someone she loved deeply — her great grandad.
For Sev, this is not just a fundraising challenge. It is personal.
Her great grandad was a huge part of her life. He adored Sev, and his face would always light up when he saw her. He made time for her, made her laugh, and helped create the kind of small family moments that stay with you forever. One of their special traditions was something Sev and her sister called “chap chap dede” — tapping him gently on the head, with “dede” meaning grandad. He would always bend down so they could do it, turning a simple gesture into their own way of saying hello and goodbye.
There were pastry desserts made together as a family, with grandad always setting aside dough for Sev and her sister to play with. There were Polo mints carried in his pocket, ready to hand to them as a quiet act of love that meant far more than it might seem. Today, Sev and her sister carry Polo mints with them too — a small way of keeping him close.
When Sev lost her great grandad in 2025, the loss hit the whole family hard. For Sev, it left a space that cannot be filled. This walk is, in many ways, her final goodbye to him. But it is also something else: a determined act of love, remembrance and compassion.
What makes this challenge even more striking is that Sev is not only thinking about her own family’s loss. Her JustGiving page explains that her best friend’s teacher has also been diagnosed with throat cancer, making the illness feel even more real and deepening her resolve to do something that might help others facing it.
That says a great deal about who Sev is.
This is a young girl willing to take on hills, weather, exhaustion and 96 long miles not for attention, but because she cares. Because she wants to honour someone she loved. Because she wants to help other people going through something painful and frightening. Because she has decided, in her own way, that she will not stand still.
At the Throat Cancer Foundation, we are incredibly moved by what Sev is doing. Challenges like this raise vital funds, but they also do something else that matters just as much: they bring visibility, humanity and heart to an illness that too often remains misunderstood until it touches someone’s life directly.
Every mile Sev walks carries memory. Every step carries love. And every donation made in support of her challenge helps us continue our work to raise awareness, support patients and families, and push for a future where fewer people face the devastation of throat cancer.
Sev’s walk is brave. It is generous. And above all, it is full of love.
We are proud to stand behind her.
