A walk in a ‘million’ for Dirk!
THE death of a friend inspired Dirk Bates to walk one million steps last month to help find a cure for brain tumours.
Dirk was inspired to take on the gruelling challenge throughout February for Brain Tumour Research after an old friend passed away from the devastating disease.
His eccentric appearance and mass of piercings attracted plenty of interest from passers-by as he walked an average of 18 miles – or 35,000 steps– every day. The 60-year-old even dyed his goatee beard a striking shade of pink to match his Brain Tumour Research T-shirt.
Dirk said: “It’s so sad that a dear friend, who I have known for a very long time, lost his life to a brain tumour so young – he was only in his 40s.
“You don’t expect to lose anybody at that age. He was a great bloke, I have fond memories and miss him.
“Although I am 60 now, I don’t feel it. I am fit and healthy and so thankful that I can still get on and enjoy my life – albeit limited by Covid-19 restrictions.
“Less than four years ago, I was overweight and suffering with anxiety. Thanks to going on a strict diet and taking up jogging I have turned my life around.” Dirk is no stranger to fundraising for charitable causes and has even taken on a one million steps challenge before when he reached his target in 29 days last May and raised money for the NHS.
Walking an average of 35,000 steps and typically covering nearly 18 miles every day, Dirk completed his second one million steps challenge a day sooner – with more than 1,002,800 steps logged on his Fitbit. However, he is also having to contend with much more inclement weather than last Spring.
Dirk explained: “I wanted to challenge myself and do one million steps in a shorter month. The weather was against me – freezing, wet, miserable and dark. “One Thursday I walked for 12 hours from Stafford to Newcastleunder-lyme and back again and notched up more than 71,000 steps and 31 miles.
“On top of this, the weather was terrible with some very heavy rain. I got home completely drenched and with my feet in a bit of a state. It was almost like I had trench foot!
“At times like that I thought ‘what am I doing it for’, then I realised it’s for others to give them a better life and that I needed to carry on. “My legs are killing me now and I have blisters on my feet. But on the positive side, I never get bored walking, enjoying listening to my music and singing along to my favourite post-punk bands like Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny.”
Dirk has worked for Wincanton in Stafford, for the last 14 years in the facilities team. His wife, Vicky, also works for the company. General Manager Steve Montgomerie said: “Dirk is a real inspiration to us all – always supporting a worthwhile cause. We are very proud of what he’s done for Brain Tumour Research.”
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. Melanie Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “What Dirk has done is really incredible. “I did 10,000 steps a day in February which was just about achievable, but to average more than three times this number is awesome, especially in the freezing cold weather we had and then the heavy rain.
“We are really grateful to Dirk for taking on his one million steps challenge for Brain Tumour Research and for helping to raise awareness.”
To donate to Dirk’s fundraising, which currently stands at more than £650, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ million-step-challenge