THE first Christmas without her beloved son Jack was always going to be a difficult one for Tanya Savage.

But the marathon charity trek she is set to embark on in May is helping her through an especially tough time of year.

Since she began fundraising in December to raise money for terminally ill children, Tanya has already collected a staggering £4,800.

In May, she will be attempting Peru’s Inca trail, which climbs up 4,200 metres, to help youngsters who have not been given the chance to live a life as outgoing, fun-filled and free as Jack had.

Jack, 20, was killed in a car crash on the A419 in May. His friend Jack Hiscock, who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident, was sentenced to 28 months in prison at Swindon Crown Court, after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.

It came after an emotional appeal to the judge by Tanya and husband Steve to spare Hiscock jail.

Every penny raised from Tanya’s trek will go towards the Make a Wish Foundation – a charity set up to send children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses on a once-in-a-ifetime experience. She is paying for the cost of the trip to make sure all the donations go directly to the charity.

“I want to raise as much as possible to make sure I can create as many smiles as possible for the terminally ill children,” said Tanya. “I will keep fundraising until I leave.”

She said the festive period without her son was particularly hard, especially because it would have been Jack’s 21st birthday a few weeks ago.

“We had all his friends and family round to our house which was really lovely,” said Tanya, who has three daughters.

“To have all the boys back together again and all of his family in one room was lovely.

“Christmas has been pretty awful. There has been a huge Jack-shaped hole.

“I can’t say the grief has been getting better, which is one reason why I am doing this. It is better than wallowing in the grief.

“I have to get up and show by example for my other children, to help them get through it and move on otherwise the grief could just eat you up.”

She said the nerves of travelling to the other side of the world with a group of people she has never met, had started to kick in.

“I’m just beginning to get nervous,” said Tanya, who plans to recruit the help of a personal trainer this year in preparation for the trek. “Everyone has been very generous – it’s very overwhelming.”

Anyone wishing to donate should visit www.just giving.com/Tanya-Savage