A grieving Liverpool FC fan who set out on an epic walk to honour his mum’s memory had a special day to remember as former Liverpool FC goalkeeper Chris Kirkland joined the group for the entire 34-mile trek.
David Highton, 39, from Runcorn, lost his mother Sue on October 1 aged 63 after she had cancer, and as thanks to hospice staff who looked after her he decided to take on the Sandstone Trail. Little did he know at the time that a chance encounter at Anfield would lead to Chris offering to join David and friends Tom Harper, Sammy Harper and Martyn Gill for the entire walk, which took place on Mother's Day, and with David’s wife Nichola also along for the last 10 miles.
Despite being regarded as one of the nation’s top walks, the Sandstone Trail isn't without its challenges as the group discovered, trekking through deep bogland as well as traversing forest and ascents of Bickerton and Raw Head hills, and enduring occasional rainy spells. A wrong turn added two miles to the walk and they arrived at the final destination of Frodsham in a time of about 12 hours including two stops with David’s foot carrying a large, painful blister.
