Tragic groom inspires pals to meet walk challenge
THE death of a man just days after his wedding has inspired his friends to take on a walking challenge in his memory.
Zachary McNally, known as Zac, proposed to his fiancée from a hospital window and married her two days before he died after a long battle with illness.
The “larger than life” 28-year-old died in Manchester Royal Infirmary surrounded by his family, and a funeral service was held in Ramsbottom on Thursday, May 5.
Zac died on April 15 following a two-and-a-half year stay in hospital with cancer.
He was only 25 when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in autumn 2019 and admitted to hospital shortly before Christmas that year.
Now Zac’s friends Matt Garnett, Connor Ryan, Matthew Beaumont, Alex Dugdale and Thomas Smale, are all set to walk 14 miles to help raise money for a bench in Zac’s memory.
The journey will begin at Old Trafford on June 3 and end at Ramsbottom Cemetery, where Zac has been laid to rest.
Matt Garnett, 28, said: “When me and Zac were younger, we were close friends. I was in the Army and when I would come back from training I would go to his house.
“When we were younger, we were quite close. But as you grow up you don’t speak as much but whenever we saw each other we would pick it up from where we left off straight away.
“With Covid and him being in hospital, we weren’t able to visit him as much as we wanted to. Last year we arranged to walk from the Hare and Hounds in Ramsbottom to Old Trafford. With him passing, we wanted to bring him home so to speak. We’re going to finish this walk at the cemetery.
“Zac was the life of the party. If you walked into a room and he was there, you would know, and for good reasons. He was a joker; he was a happy lad that would light up a room.”
Anyone interested in donating can visit justgiving.com search for ‘Matthew Garnett Zac’ and scroll down to Crowdfunders for the donation link.
Haslingden St Mary’s FC is also hosting a fundraising football match this Saturday, May 14 in memory of Zac.