Following a gruelling 35 days of walking across the country, crossing 20 counties and walking over 700 miles barefoot, Army Major Chris Brannigan reached his final destination of Edinburgh Castle where he was greeted by his family. Chris set off from Land’s End on 6th July with the intention of walking barefoot to Edinburgh to raise money to create a gene therapy for the rare disease Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) which his daughter Hasti (8) suffers from.
Walking anywhere between 15 and 30 miles a day, Chris’ journey has taken a toll on his body, requiring two separate visits to accident & emergency. These could not stop him from reaching his destination however. Chris’ route took him via No. 10 Downing Street where he and Hasti hand delivered a letter to the Prime Minister’s residence highlighting the many issues faced by families living under the shadow of rare disease.
This epic barefoot adventure attracted national media interest and was followed closely by a huge number of people across the country via social media. Despite raising a large sum of money during the journey, the Brannigan family and their charity, Hope for Hasti, still face a financial mountain to climb as they need to raise another two million pounds before any child with CdLS will ever be able to receive this ground-breaking treatment.
