72-year-old great grandad to walk 10 miles a day every day in 2022 to raise money for sick children
A 72-year-old great grandad has pledged to walk 10 miles a day during 2022 - that's 3650 miles in total, to raise money for a Warwick based charity which helps poorly children.
Tony Cunningham from Coventry will walk laps of the city's War Memorial Park - beginning his first walk at 10am today.
He'll be raising money to help children going through the toughest of times.
The money will go to a charity called Molly Olly's Wishes, which supports children with terminal or life-limiting illnesses and their families.
What is Molly Olly's Wishes?
The charity was set up following the death of Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw’s eight-year-old daughter Molly from a rare kidney cancer and marks its tenth anniversary this year.
It grants wishes, helps with emotional support and it donates therapeutic toys and books to children.
Its mascot, a lion called Olly The Brave, has its own Hickman line, used for tests and administering medicine or fluids, and a detachable mane, to help children understand chemotherapy.
They've now supported 15,000 children and funded Birmingham’s first paediatric palliative consultant, a position which has now become permanent and is funded through the NHS.
Mr Cunningham said he was motivated to help the charity after a difficult time, including undergoing a quadruple heart bypass and losing his wife to cancer, and also his own experience of child loss.
“My wife and I lost twins in my first marriage when I was just 21. One was stillborn and one died in my arms on the way to the hospital.
"Even though it was 50 years ago that torments me to this day. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t think about that.
The grandad of 11 and great-grandad of six says he hopes the daily walks will benefit his own health but his children think he's mad.
“My health has improved enormously since I started doing the walks so I wanted to keep pushing myself further and further each time.
"The kids think I’m completely bonkers and keep asking if I really ought to be doing this, but I’m determined to give it my best shot.”