It’s coming up for almost a year since my Grandad passed away. I can’t quite believe it still, and it still hurts to think about. I want to do something to celebrate his life since we haven’t got to have a wake yet (we WILL as soon as allowed). It’s been a really hard year, as a family we haven’t been able to meet up to reminisce properly or celebrate his life, and there’s some family I haven’t even seen at all since before all of this. It’s taken a mental toll on us all, and I want to have something positive to focus on. 

For those who don’t know, he passed away from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Abdominal aortic aneurysms are somewhat common in men over the age of 65, and screening is offered to this age group. However, management and treatment is quite limited, as the surgery is quite high risk. The University of Leicester conducts research into abdominal aortic aneurysms, and also is ‘exploring new treatments to make surgery safer’. 

I’ve decided that I want to raise money for the abdominal aortic aneurysm research projects at the University of Leicester, so that hopefully one day, there will be much more options to those who are identified as having, or being at risk of, an abdominal aortic aneurysm. 

He passed away on 28th April 2020... so from the 29th April - 29th May, I will be walking a total of 150 miles. This will be broken into daily walks to reach the 150 mile target on the 29th of May. I’ll update with daily progress of how I’m getting on with each walk - should be interesting given how unfit I am 😅 Might lose a few pounds in the process, he did have a laugh one of the last times I saw him when I made a joke about how lockdown wasn’t being kind to my waistline 😂 He didn’t even disagree, how rude 🙄😂

And all going well, pubs should be open on the 29th May, so I’ll finish off by dropping into my Grandad’s favourite bar for a pint - The Addy (Admiral Bar). Hopefully if restrictions are eased off any, some family/friends of Grandad can drop in for 1 or 2 as well. 

Wish me luck!