MORE than £10,000 has been raised by the family of a brave young man who died three years ago.
Ian Ellis, of Tan y Clawdd, Johnstown, died on December 30, 2008 after a near-lifelong battle with cystic fybrosis.
He would have celebrated his 27th birthday last month.
In the week of the third anniversary of his death, family members said they are continuing to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to help those suffering from the same condition as Ian.
“This is always a difficult time of year for us,” said his mother, Eirawen. “December as a whole is difficult as it was Ian’s birthday as well as when he died.
“However, we have many happy memories of Ian and are keen to keep raising funds.”
Thousands have been raised by the family towards the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, both while Ian was alive and since he died.
“We want to help others in the same position as Ian by raising this money,” added Mrs Ellis.
“My daughter, Nia, did a skydive and my husband, Phil, has done an abseil.
“We hope to continue doing things like this. It is very important to us this money is raised.”
Ian, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when just 15-months-old, contributed articles for the NGamer computer games magazine and worked at Tesco in Wrexham.
His condition meant he spent a lot of time at Wrexham Maelor Hospital and Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool.
In the closing stages of his life his condition deteriorated and at Christmas, 2008, he was admitted to Broadgreen, where he died.
At the time of his death, Ian’s father Phil spoke movingly about his son.
He said: “He enjoyed his life even though it was short.
“He had an incredible laugh and a fantastic sense of humour.
“We feel very lucky to have had time with him and he’d have changed everybody he met for the better.”
More than £10,000 was raised by Ian’s family and friends for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust during his life, with a significant amount added to the total in the past three years.