* Gary Fletcher about to board the boat out of Spain.
Severely blistered feet have finally forced a Llangollen man to put an
end to his 500-mile charity walk to raise money £10,000 for a local hospital’s
specialist children’s unit.
Gary Fletcher, 44, set off on his lone trek through France and Spain
along the famous Camino De Santiago Pilgrim Trail on May 6.
His target was to raise at least £10,000 for the pioneering Movement
Centre at the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in
Gobowen.
He reckoned it would take him between six and eight weeks to complete
the walk, dependent on the weather or any injuries he might sustain along the
way.
But those injuries came quite soon along the route when blisters he
developed on both feet became so painful that he had to stop for a few days to
allow them to heal in the Spanish town of Estelle.
He was eventually forced to seek hospital treatment.
Gary has been issuing regular updates on his challenge through his
Facebook page.
And just before the weekend he revealed that he’d finally called a halt
to the walk.
He posted: “So after a few days of contemplating and using
steroid cream on my feet, the infection hasn’t got any better but got worse due
to sweat in my boots I guess, feels like a really bad bee sting at the moment.
“I decided (as much as I hate hospitals) to go to the hospital today and
was given antibiotics and told not to wear closed shoes and keep them open to
the air as much as possible.
“This along with other things has brought me to the end of walking, as
much as it’s disappointing being 192 miles from the end it’s brought me to a
crossroads of what to do.
“My thinking is now to stop and pick up from here sometime in the future
and enjoy as a new adventure rather than going via bus/train etc and it not
being a new experience and new sights via the walk next time.
“My family were also meeting me in Santiago de Compostela but it’s crazy
how long it takes to fly there, most flights are via Ireland and can take a day
and a half for some reason. So with this, I am thinking of hiring a car and
driving all the way across Spain over a few days and catching a ferry for
another couple of days to meet my family possibly in Tenerife.
“It’s kind of hard to figure out the best plan, continuing would mean me
sitting still for a week or more until this infection has gone and I’m feeling
it’s already getting to my state of mind just hanging around. I hate to give
up, I hate to not at least get to the finish point, but the above is the best
plan I can come up with so that I can finish on a clear run next time.
“I also feel guilty for the sponsors to the charity as I don’t feel I’ve
given this my all now.”
A couple of days later Gary posted: “So after making the decision it was a mad dash to hire a car and drive
across Spain to catch a ferry. Just made it by driving all day yesterday and up
at 5:30 to do another 190miles. We’re just
preparing to set sail now. 33 hours via Grand Canaria and I’ll be in Tenerife
for a few weeks. Hopefully the sea water will sort my feet out.”
Gary, who recently sold his development site next to White Waters Hotel
and is looking for another property in or around the town, spent weeks training
for his foot-slogging marathon by climbing local hills and mountains and
sweating it out in daily gym sessions.
He also mounted an intensive publicity and social media campaign to gain
the sponsorship from local businesses.
Before leaving he said: “I have wanted to do something to help children in our country for some time. With the centre I have found the perfect charity to support as it relies solely on donations and private fundraising to continue its work supporting children of all ages with mobility issues.”
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