Starting 9 May I am planning to walk the length of the Outer Hebrides from Vatersay to the Butt of Lewis (approximately 190 miles) in memory of my wife Fiona. We spent our honeymoon on the Isle of Barra in May 1990 and after a holiday on Benbecula with Fiona's Mum in 2022 we planned to return to Barra in 2023. We didn't get to fulfil that plan, on 12 January 2023 Fiona was taken ill with a brain tumour and after undergoing a craniotomy was given her devastating diagnosis of an aggressive Gliobastoma multiforme on her 59th birthday. Fiona went through 6 weeks chemoradiation at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and also joined a clinical trial that required her to take a foul tasting drink 3 times a day at 8 hourly intervals - including 1 o'clock in the morning - but by the end of August she had developed clots on her lungs and she became too exhausted to undergo any further treatment. At the end of September she was admitted to Eden Valley Hospice in Carlisle and died on 25 October. 2023. The three charities I am fundraising for are very important to us as a family, during the 6 weeks of chemoradiation and subsequent appointments at The Freeman Hospital we were regular visitors to Maggie's for a cup of tea, a chat or just a quiet corner, we were both looked after wonderfully at Eden Valley Hospice and Brain Tumour Research is dedicated to helping everyone affected by a brain tumour to live a longer, better life.
Fiona spent a lifetime helping family, friends and others as a health visitor and in various voluntary roles, including raising over £4200 for a cot death charity by completing an arduous trek in the Peruvian Andes in 2004.
I will be walking solo until I reach Harris when family will hopefully join me for some sections and all donations will be gratefully received.