Man carries child's ashes on 300-mile run to raise money for children's cancer charity

A man from Aberdare has completed a 300 mile run from Conwy to Cardiff to raise money for cancer charities following the death of a local three-year-old boy.

Gareth Jones, 32, ran in honour of Harri Stickler, who tragically died of Leukaemia, taking his ashes with so he could go "on a journey he would never forget".

He said the boy's dad told him: “Harri went on lots of journeys but a lot of them involved going backwards and forwards to hospital…but I took him on a journey that didn’t involve hospital.”

Initially, Gareth was looking to complete the run to raise awareness of mental health - something he has struggled with and found getting worse again during the pandemic.

But when he heard about Harri's story, he decided to try to raise money for the young boy's treatment.

He runs a Facebook page called The Mental Health Wanderer, trying to help others facing similar challenges through running.

Talking about his running, Gareth said: "If it helps just one person it is worth it."

But this time he decided to run for a different cause.

Initially, Harri's parents were looking to raise money for treatment in Singapore or the USA.

When Harri died, Gareth decided to run in his memory, raising money for Latch - a children's cancer charity in Cardiff that supported Harri.

Gareth set off to follow the Cambrian Way but his watch kept sending him off-route, sometimes coming perilously close to cliff edges. After the first two days he decided to ditch the watch and make his own way across Wales.

Along with Harri's ashes, he was accompanied by a support team. Talking about the help they gave him, Gareth said they were a group of "four total strangers" who supported him even when they themselves were "absolutely shattered".

The walker was also joined by Harri's family for the final two days of the five-day trek to provide support.

Talking about the support he received, Gareth's wife Judith said: "It was extremely challenging due to it being an unknown route and unknown terrain that he’s never experienced before but he was lucky to have an amazing support crew along with him to take a lot of the pressures off so he could just focus on the run."

On finishing the run, Gareth said he had been "a little bit overwhelmed" by the support he has received.

He also had a particular message for the members of his Facebook group and hometown, saying: “I would just like to say thank you to the Mental Health Wanderer community… and the people of Aberdare for always supporting me and believing in me, and never letting me give up."

Gareth set out with the aim of raising £2,000 and has managed to exceed that total, so far raising just under £2,100.