Local bereaved son cycles the entirety of the Forth & Clyde and Union canals in memory of his father

"I wanted to honour his memory by challenging myself to cycle the length of the route he never got to travel.”

After weeks of training Desmond left Bowling at 8am on Saturday 25 March, and took 7 hours to reach Edinburgh. Once he arrived in Edinburgh he laid his father to rest by scattering his ashes, stored in a special urn, in the canal. The canal has special meaning for the family.

Desmond commented: “Dad passed away in January after years of being stuck on dialysis. He was only 55 and we all miss him terribly. In the years before he died he developed a passion for canal boating and it was his dream to travel across the canal network, once he was off of dialysis. Even though that never came to pass, we were lucky that we were able to spend a day last summer on a canal boat travelling from Linlithgow to the Falkirk wheel and back. Memories we will treasure forever. I wanted to honour his memory by challenging myself to cycle the length of the route he never got to travel.”

Prior to training for the cycle Desmond had never cycled more than 43km in one go. He has been training since the end of January, and cycled more than 500km to prepare himself for the challenge.

On the day, the cycle itself took longer than planned, because the route proved to be not just physically but also emotionally challenging. Sometimes being unable to cycle due to tears, Desmond simply had to stop at the side of the path. “It brought back so many memories and I couldn’t help but think of all of the ways I will miss him, and all of the things we’ll never get to do together. I am happy my efforts will go towards ensuring that anyone in the same situation as my dad, can get all the support they need from this great charity,” said Desmond at the finish line.

Katie Hepworth, Head of Fundraising at Kidney Care UK, added: “We are incredibly grateful to Desmond for his amazing efforts in his father’s memory, whilst also raising funds to help people with kidney disease, like his dad. We’ve seen a huge increase in demand for our services due to the cost of living crisis, and we rely on amazing fundraisers like Desmond raising money or donating to support our work. Thank you for helping us to ensure that no one faces kidney disease alone.”

Desmond has raised more than £2000 for Kidney Care UK. Donations can still be made on his JustGiving page, Cycling the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals in memory of my Dad.