A Southport man has shared his heartache after traffic delays meant he didn't get the chance to say goodbye to his grandad.
Rikki Spofforth, lost his beloved grandad, Ken, to cancer in 2015.
He will walk from Southport to Leicester in Ken's memory - a trek expected to take six days - after just missing out on being with his grandfather during his final hours.
Rikki told the ECHO : "The story behind it basically boils down to my grandfather having cancer.
"We knew he was nearing the end of his life, and we then received a telephone call to advise he had gone into the hospice in Leicester.
“It looked as though he did not have long, so we needed to get down there ASAP to say our last goodbyes.
“So, myself, my mother and my sister got into the car and drove down to Leicester.
"Unfortunately, there were numerous traffic delays and by the time we arrived at LOROS, he had passed away.”
Grandfather Ken, 71 had been a resident at LOROS (Leicester Hospice) for less than 72 hours before a carer called Rikki’s family to prepare them for the news Ken’s time was coming to an end.
Rikki intends to include LOROS in his fundraising sights along with two other charities: Queenscourt Hospice, in Southport, and Cancer Research UK.
Rikki, a paralegal at Fletcher's Solicitors, also believes the final moments shared with his grandfather were taken away by traffic, which is part of the reason he now wishes to undertake the journey once again, this time on foot.
He continued: “I have absolutely not doing anything like this before. At university, I had done a couple of 10k runs, but that was a good few years ago now. In fact, more than a few years. Closer to twelve.”
Rikki plans to tackle the 120-mile journey on Monday, August 30 starting from Birkdale. He has estimated the route will take him around six days, aiming to finish Saturday, September 4, in Leicester.
You can read more about Rikki’s fundraising and donate here
