Terminally ill crane hero's bucket list granted

A terminally ill hero crane operator, who rescued a workman from a burning high-rise building is set to get his bucket list wishes granted.

Glen Edwards was dubbed the "Bruce Willis of Reading" after using a cage to rescue the workman, who was trapped on a roof of the Station Hill development in November 2023.

After being told his spine cancer had grown Mr Edwards' wife, Kate, asked Bucket List Wishes for help "to make some lasting treasured memories together whilst we can".

The charity has stepped in and will first help the couple and their teenage son move home, before organising several other wishes, including a family photo shoot, for Mr Edwards and his loved ones once they are settled in.

Mr Edwards said: "Things are not too clever... I've got [sic] diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"I had cancer in the tongue in February when I rescued the guy... I got that cleared up with radiotherapy but then in the next breath, after I had a full body scan, the consultant told me that I had cancer in my spine in five places.

"I have been undergoing chemotherapy... but it has grown, to cut a long story short."

Feeling overwhelmed with their much-awaited house move and the news Mr Edwards was set to undergo another course of chemotherapy in the next few weeks, Mrs Edwards turned to Bucket List Wishes.

The couple had previously met Gini Hackett, founder of the Berkshire charity that grants wishes for terminally ill adults in Berkshire, at the BBC Radio Berkshire Make a Difference Awards.

Ms Hackett said: "I just remember watching his nomination and thinking, 'Wow.. he's incredible, what an incredible thing to do for another human'.

"Then Glen's wife contacted us just over a week ago to ask us if we would help them.

"We found this humbling but also we've been emotional about this because we know how much of a hero Glen is... hopefully we have gone over and above and made a quite simple but stressful thing of moving a lot easier for him."

The charity has organised the house move, along with carpets, flooring, blinds and kitchen essentials, including an oven, as well as a new shed, and food shopping and bedding vouchers.

Thanking the charity, Mr Edwards described Gini as an "angel".

"What she has done for us has been unbelievable, she has taken so much pressure off us," he explained.

He said his diagnosis meant he had been unable to work.

"I've had to retire... I had no intention of retiring at 65," he said.

Alongside supporting the move, the charity has also helped the Edwards family set up an online fundraising page to achieve any further wishes.

Mr Edwards, who has always played down his heroics, was thanked by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue for his incredibly skilful rescue, under extremely difficult circumstances.

You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.