A high-flying businessman has quit his job, taking a 90 per cent pay cut, so he can show his terminally ill daughter around the world.
John Silk, from Croydon, South London, who successfully managed his own employment agency for 13 years, gave up his lucrative business to take a part-time job as a school bus-driver so he could see his daughter Vicky every day.
Vicky, 21, has Down’s Syndrome and Pulmonary Hypertension and receives support from Dreams Come True, a charity dedicated to helping terminally ill children.
Mr Silk was initially told Vicky would not live beyond age 15, however she has defied doctors' predictions and Mr Silk now uses all his earnings to take her on trips around the world, ITV reports.
The family have been on 24 trips in the last 14 years and visited 15 countries.
So far, with the help of Dreams Come True, Vicky has flown over one of the world's most active volcanoes in a helicopter in Hawaii .
She has also visited Florida's Disney World, Niagara Falls, Barbados and Thailand.
Mr Silk said the trips had broadened Vicky’s horizons and boosted her confidence.
Vicky, who loves to travel and has model aeroplanes hanging from her bedroom ceiling, has also had work-experience as a member of Virgin cabin-crew.
Mr Silk and Vicky’s stepmother, Gerry, have adapted to a life of frugality, using food coupons, wearing second-hand clothes and forgoing luxuries to save money to fund Vicky’s trips.
Mr Silk told The Mirror: "It's a hard slog but it's worth it every time.
"If you have the motivation to do something you can move mountains."
John is now an ambassador for the Dreams Come True after seeing the positive impact they have had on Vicky’s life.
“What the charity does is amazing, I have seen first-hand the power a dream can have on a child,” said Mr Silk.
Mr Silk said if he could give one message to parents it would be: “Spend more time with your child as time is precious.”
