THE family of a young Co Armagh man who died of an asthma attack two years ago are holding their third and final truck run next month in his memory.
Tiernán Green died in his parents' arms, aged 20, after suffering a fatal attack at his home in Derrymacash outside Lurgan in January 2017.
His father Stephen said the annual event is always very emotional, but that having raised awareness and more than £50,000 in the past two years, it was time to "let go".
"Our family needs to move forward. It is part of the healing process. As hard as it is, we have to do it," he said.
"We have battled through since Tiernán died but it doesn't get any easier. Your heart will always be broken. You want to see him coming through the door but you know he never will.
"The loss of a child is just immeasurable. My father died 60 days before Tiernán but he was 77. You plan to lift your father's coffin but you never plan on lifting your son's."
Mr Green said he had "let go" on top of Slieve Donard last week, where he left a plaque in his son's memory.
He said he felt Tiernán's presence on the mountain.
"Tiernán had climbed Slieve Donard twice himself and I knew he was up there with me," he said.
Mr Green – a member of Anam Cara, a support group for bereaved parents – completed the climb with other members in a charity event for Armagh firefighter Gary Hamilton, who died in a motorbike crash last July.
Money raised in last year's truck event help set up a Belfast branch of the group.
Proceeds from this year's event will be divided between Anam Cara and the YMCA in Lurgan which carries out cross-community work and has lost crucial funding.
More than 200 trucks have registered for the Big T Truck Run on May 11.
Tiernán's nickname was Big T as he was 6ft 4ins with broad shoulders and watched over all his friends when out socialising, his father explained.
The convoy will be led by Mr Green, a driver with Norman Emerson's in Derryadd, Co Armagh, whose new Volvo truck will carry a banner at the front with his son's name on it.
The 45-minute drive will begin and end at Emerson's and will include an auction with prizes and trophies for the best trucks.
A talented Gaelic footballer, who was one of four children, Tiernán was fit and healthy and had enjoyed an evening out with friends before developing breathing difficulties when getting ready for bed on the night he died.
Although he had suffered from asthma since birth, he experienced no attacks until he was 18 years of age.
In the aftermath of his death, his family revealed he had always used the blue Ventolin inhaler but never used the brown, a steroid, and set about raising greater awareness of asthma and the importance of properly managing the condition.
They also raised money for dozens of life-saving nebulisers in schools and community organisations in Northern Ireland.
An awareness video by his mother Donna, named 'Asthma Kills', has had more than a million views.
Mr Green said although he and the family are stepping back from asthma awareness work, he will be taking on a role with Anam Cara as parental correspondent in the north.
