Dan’s drive in memory of his mum
A SOUTHPORT shop worker is planning to drive the length of the country in one day to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Dan Spino, 22, is going to drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 24 hours to raise money for the cause after both his mum and grandad lost their lives to the disease.
He is completing the journey next month with fiancée Gemma Guide and friends Alex Taschini and Glenn Roberts. They will complete the journey on October 18, the day before what would have been his mum’s 54th birthday.
Dan, who lives in Banks and went to school in Tarleton, works at both Whittackers Schoolwear and Man to Man in Southport town centre and has been collecting money in both stores.
Along with the money the group have raised online, they have already raised nearly all of their £500 target.
Dan said: “There cannot be many people whose lives haven’t been changed, or influenced in some way by cancer over the years. In the 1990s my mum’s father, Geoffrey Lang, passed away from cancer in Queenscourt Hospice when I was just a few years old, so I never got to know him properly.
“They say that cancer affects one in three people, a terrifying statistic that hit home in 2012 when my mum was also diagnosed with cancer after a routine operation in hospital. Unfortunately treatment failed and it quickly spread, and she passed away in April 2013, cared for by the very same hospice that looked after my grandad in his final days.
“One of my passions is travelling and one of the routes I have always wanted to do is from Land’s End in Cornwall, to John O’Groats in the Scottish Highlands.
“At the same time I realised it would be the perfect way to help make a difference to the lives of other people. What started as a small idea became an 837mile drive for charity.
“I’ve driven to John O’Groats before but this will be more than double anything I’ve done in the past. I’m hoping we’re all just going to have a laugh and keep each other going.”