Halifax extreme challenger Ben Moorhouse completes non-stop walk from Edinburgh to Manchester

On Saturday, July 15, Ben set off from Edinburgh Castle at 7am and was joined at the start by the Depute Lord Provost of The City of Edinburgh, Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron.

Ben was supported on the extreme challenge by his support team of Gaynor Thompson, Jason Croft and Adam Todd.

On a weekend where torrential thunderstorms were forecast; Ben was faced with high levels of surface water across much of the Scottish terrain and battled through constant downpours walking day and night with no sleep.

Professor Alexander Heazell, from the Manchester Rainbow Clinic and Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, who benefit from fundraising by The Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation, met Ben 28 miles from Manchester and joined him for the rest of the journey to St Mary’s Hospital.

In October 2018 Ben’s daughter Kallipateira was stillborn at 38 weeks of pregnancy in Calderdale. Ben and his partner Gaynor then experienced a miscarriage in May 2019 at nine weeks of pregnancy. Kallipateira’s death was fully preventable.

During the lockdown of May 2020 Ben and partner Gaynor had their rainbow baby – a little boy called Apollon. During the pregnancy they were cared for by Professor Heazell and his team.

Ben said: “Every day in the UK there are on average eight babies stillborn and many of these deaths could have been prevented. These are beautiful fully developed babies who should be alive.

"Professor Heazell and his team are saving babies’ lives through their work and pioneering research.

"I do thrive in hot and dry conditions so to face the deluge of rain for most of the 206 miles was horrendous.

"I faced severe pain at times in my legs due to injuries I but continued because of my daughter and Alex and the team.

"To walk with Alex on the final stretch made a big difference and he helped push me through those final miles. I met Alex because my daughter died and to walk side by side again with the man who helped our son Apollon come into this world alive is a special feeling.“

Matt Walker of Bristol Street Motors, who supported the challenge with a sponsored vehicle for the team, said: “We have supported Ben and Gaynor for the past couple of years with a support vehicle. They live local to our dealership, and we are delighted to have to opportunity to support again this year, on what is Ben’s largest challenge completing a non-stop 206 mile walk from Edinburgh to Manchester in aid of such a great cause.

“It’s tough to imagine the pain of what they have gone through and what Ben has done is incredible – using that pain to focus on ways which can highlight the issues around stillbirths in the UK and continuously push himself to the limit to not only raise awareness but valuable money to fund research."

A £10,000 target was set for the extreme challenge and so far, £4,037 has been raised.

Ben can be supported at http://www.justgiving.com/manchester206.