BLISTERED feet and fatigue couldn’t stop father and daughter David and Amy Cotton from completing a tough 24.6 mile walk through the Peak District in support of our patient care.
And making all the effort worthwhile was knowing that David’s mum Kath - herself a patient at St Luke’s - would be at the finish line in Baslow with the rest of the family to greet them.
“Kath was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019 and has been a St Luke’s patient for almost a year now,” said daughter-in-law Rachael.
“The support we have received as a family has been excellent, absolutely amazing.
“Kath is a massive part of the lives of all four of our children and when she was at St Luke’s we could come as a family to visit her.
“It doesn’t feel like a hospital at all - in fact, the children say it’s just like a hotel.”
It was because they were so impressed by that level of service that fire fighter David and 13-year-old Amy decided to take on the tough walking challenge, tackling nine edges in the Peak District.
“It was originally supposed to be 20 miles but when they got to Ladybower, part of the road was closed so they had to take a diversion which added to the distance,” said Rachael.
“Amy plays for the Sheffield United Academy girls’ so she is fit but she’s not used to walking such a long way so she did really well.
“And David finished the last two miles with no shoe because he had such a blistered foot.
“There were highs and lows but they loved it and they were there to support each other and the fact that Kath was able to join us at the end to meet them made it really special.
“In fact, we had so many people saying they wish they could have joined in that we’re thinking of making it an annual event with a bigger group once social distancing rules have been relaxed.”
There’s still time to support David and Amy by visit their JustGiving page - Cotton Walk