Ashley Cain: 'Extreme pain' of Ultra-Man challenge 'worth it' for vital childhood cancer funding

Rosie Dowsing catches up with Ashley Cain after his most enduring fundraising challenge yet.

Former Coventry City footballer Ashley Cain has told ITV Central the physical and emotional pain of running, cycling, and kayaking the length of the UK is nothing compared to the pain of losing his daughter.

The endurance athlete from Warwickshire completed his gruelling 'Ultra-Man' challenge - which saw him run, cycle, and kayak the length of the UK three times back-to-back.

Ashley arrived into John O'Groats on Saturday 20 July to an adoring crowd of cheers and applause, after over 2780 miles across 80 days. He is the first man to ever complete the challenge.

He undertook the challenge in memory of his daughter Azaylia Diamond Cain, who died from Leukaemia at eight months old in 2021.

Speaking about his daughter, Ashley said: "She was incredible. She was amazing, she changed my life.

"She showed me that through her darkest moments she can create someone else's brightest days, and I just want to be like her and do that for other people.

"Childhood cancer is severely underfunded, which means survival rates haven't improved and less and less doctors specialise in it."

Doubling his original fundraising target of £100k, Ashley raised over £200k towards The Azaylia Foundation’s Childhood Cancer PhD Scholarship Programme.

The charity has already funded five PhDs at the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham, and Ashley's ambition is to reach a target of 20 PhDs in five years.

'When I feel pain, I use it for something good'

Ashley has endured 80 gruelling days suffering ligament damage, muscle tears, stress fractures, blisters, sickness and sores all in the name of his daughter, Azaylia, and to help fight childhood cancer.

Ashley said the emotional pain throughout the challenge was also tough.

"I started the challenge, on the anniversary of my daughter's passing.

"When I was running, I had to run through the anniversary of laying her to rest. These are very difficult moments emotionally, but the physical pain was on another level."

But asked how it compares to the pain of losing his daughter, Ashley said: "No amount of physical pain will come close, no amount of mental pain could come close.

"No amount of emotional pain will come close to the pain of counting my daughter's last breath. But that is somehow my strength."

"When I lost my daughter I chose not to run away from my emotions and trauma, I chose to run into them - to try and embrace them, and to harness them.

"When I feel pain, I use it for something good."

Ashley says he will continue to put himself through enduring fundraising challenges until he feels there is enough research and funding for childhood cancer.

"If I can continue changing and saving lives, and honouring my daughter, that is a life that I am happy living."

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