Facing torrential rain and battering winds, six friends completed a monumental hundred and thirty mile walk to raise funds for a soon-to-be father of two diagnosed with cancer.
The team of trekkers began their huge task in Leeds where their friend Henry Erskine is based, he is the reason behind their mammoth challenge.
Henry is fighting stage 4 Leiomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that falls under the umbrella of Sarcoma and occurs in soft tissue.
Raising money to help Henry get treatment outside the NHS is crucial, so Danny McManus and his team set off in early December to face an uphill challenge.
Little did they know that awful weather was on its way to batter the UK via Storm Darragh for a few days, making the challenge even more difficult.
Football matches were called off, hundreds of thousands of people were without power across the country, but Danny and his team kept going.
Their path had to be altered for safety purposes, meaning their 127-mile walk turned into a 133-mile walk, six extra miles on top of their already insane task.
The walk wasn’t without its challenges, two of the team had to retire because of injuries and infected blisters on their feet, making it an impossible task for them
to complete.
But on Saturday 7 December just before 3pm, Danny, Dan McKernan, Adam and Rich Cracknell cross the finish line in Liverpool to a small crowd of friends with a cold beer waiting for them.
Danny said “We had a laugh whilst doing it, we had a video call along the way with Henry to boost moral when things got hard – reminding ourselves that yes this is tough but it’s nothing compared to what he is going through.
“By the end, we were hobbling round like old men and our bodies were aching even a week or so later because we weren’t in shape gym goers, we are just six regular lads trying to push ourselves.
“I’ve got friends who are walkers who can’t believe what I’ve done, we had six weeks from when we decided to do it and starting, we didn’t have much training because we were at work.
“We battled a few demons whilst we were out there with the elements, just chatting to one another and being present, having the opportunity to speak to each other.
“We were surprised by the generosity of strangers along the route, we would stop for lunch or tea and explain what we were, and people wanted to help anyway they could, offering donations, places to stop for the night, the chance wash and dry our clothes.
“It was an incredible experience, I will never forget this in my lifetime, I’ve seen and spoken to people from years ago about what we’ve been doing, and it’s been such a positive response.”
This walk is all in aid of Henry and to help fight his illness together, to give him options outside of the NHS and help save his life.
Henry’s illness started with a little cough and when further investigation was carried out, they found Henry had a 15cm sized tumour in his left lung.
Henry had his lung removed and 30 sessions of radiotherapy as a preventative treatment but still having to have X-rays and CT scans once a year.
In July 2023, Henry had a CT scan which found that the cancer had reoccurred and spread to five locations.
Unfortunately, Henry’s medical team have exhausted all options for treatment on the NHS, they are looking further afield for treatment that could save his life.
Henry and his wife Lucy are expecting twins in March 2025, their first children, so his friends and colleagues are doing everything they can to raise money for essential treatment.
You can donate to the incredible hundred-mile hike for Henry via this go fund me link.
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