The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Coast to coast trek for Jason
Achilles pain failed to stop 190 mile walk for charity
A Whittlesey engineer battled through the pain to trek from the west coast of England to the east in just two weeks. Jason Osborne (35) completed the 192 mile walk on his own from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire despite suffering from damaged Achilles tendons and bad blisters.
Jason’s journey has raised in excess of £2,200 for local charity Defibrillator For All which next year is aiming to screen as many young people as possible for undiagnosed heart conditions.
Thanks to Jason’s efforts, another 44 young people can now be screened.
The self-employed electrical engineer said: “I’ve seen people that have doneit in the past andIjust thought I would give it a go.”
Jason trekked through three national parks and camped out overnight, cooking food on a gas stove then calling his family when he could receive a phone signal.
Withthewalkfinished, his partner Keira picked him up at Robin Hood’s Bay before he went home to tuck into a decent cooked meal.
Jason said: “I did enjoy the walk but it was harder than I thought it would be. The last five to six miles seemed to go on forever.
“I was never really bored. Some days I was walking for 11 hours.”
Despite the pain, which made his trek even more impressive, Jason has not been put off planning a similar challenge in the future, and he said he already has ideas in his head.
He added: “My advice to everyone is to get out and explore this beautiful country wehave. I truly haveseenplacesthatIneverthoughtexisted, metsomeamazingpeopleand madesomegreatfriendsalong the way.”
Defibrillator for All will now be able to hire CRY (Cardiac Screening in the Young) to carryoutscreeningtestsfor young people.
Deborah Slator, the charity’s chair, said: “We are so grateful to Jason for taking on this gigantic task to support the people of Whittlesey and help us to raise much needed funds.” To sponsor Jason’s trek, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/jason-osborne1.