The sister of a 24-year-old man who was killed in a road traffic collision in Much Birch in November last year will be walking the Great Wall of China in his memory, to raise money for the Mercia Accident Response Services (MARS).

Ian Wemyss died in hospital in November 2015 after he had been involved in a road traffic collision on the A49 in Much Birch on November 6th.

Ian, who was also known as Ivan and Devvo, had lived in Phocle Green, near Ross-on-Wye. After his death, family, friends and colleagues of the popular 24-year-old paid heart-felt tributes to him; an online donation page was established to raise funds to help pay towards the cost of his funeral, and flowers and messages were left at the scene of the incident on the A49.

His sister, Gabrielle, will pay tribute to her younger brother in September; she will embark on an eight-day trek of the Great Wall of China.

Gabrielle told the Ross Gazette: “I am doing this for the MARS charity who were the first to the scene of the incident. They ensured my brother was able to get to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Despite the efforts of the MARS team and the surgeons at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Ian died on Monday, November 9th.

However, Gabrielle is immensely grateful that she, her mum and dad, and Ian’s closest friends, had the opportunity to say goodbye.

She told the Gazette: “Without the help of MARS, I would not have been able to spend the last weekend with my brother, and we would have been unable to donate five of his organs to those on the waiting list.”

In Ian’s honour, Gabrielle has decided to raise money to support MARS. The charity exists in order to deliver enhanced immediate medical care to the people of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

A group of highly trained and experienced pre-hospital practitioners make up the MARS team: there are currently 11 doctors, and two advanced clinical practitioners.

On September 16th, Gabrielle will be flying to Beijing, where she will begin her trek of the Great Wall.

“All of my costings will be self-funded, meaning any donations will go directly to MARS; the charity will not cover any of my expenses,” Gabrielle said.

In total, she will walk around 50 miles over the course of the eight days.

If you would like to sponsor Gabrielle, please visit her Just Giving donation page.

To read this story in full, please see next week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, which will be in shops from Wednesday, August 17th.