A man from Newcastle and his three friends from the RAF ran around 92 football stadiums across the country to raise money for charity and help raise awareness of autism.
Aaron Lewis, 31, met Sam Davin, 34, Carl Evans, 38, and Shaun Brian, 34, while they were posted together in Cyprus and were also on a football team together. The four became firm friends and when Sam's six-year-old son, Frankie, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in April 2020, they rallied around him.
The diagnosis prompted Sam's family to uproot from their home in Cheshire to be nearer Sam's RAF base in Oxfordshire with the help of the RAF Benevolent Fund which provided help and financial support. And to show how grateful they are, the friends decided to embark on a huge challenge.
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Dubbed the 'Dash of 92', the friends travelled to 92 stadiums in the Premier League and EFL between April 8 and 15 and ran one kilometre around each one. They hoped to raise as much money as possible for the RAF Benevolent Fund and the National Autistic Society.
Aaron, who is originally from Fawdon, said: "We met in Cyprus, we were all posted together and we just clicked. We first talked about doing it this challenge a couple of years ago but with Covid-19 we couldn't do it.
"Now we're back in the UK, we thought it would be a good time to do it. We're on the same football team and we're all huge football fans - I'm a huge Newcastle fan so we thought it would be a good thing to do.
"It has to be the right people when you do anything like this and we all get along great. There were moments when we nagging at each other through hunger and exhaustion but we got there in the end!"
Over the course of the challenge, they travelled 2,600 miles in a motor home gifted to them by a friend and they charged up at various RAF camps around the country. But Aaron said the football clubs were "amazing" and they were even given tickets to watch Cheltenham Town play Gillingham with many also letting them inside the grounds.
He said: "We emailed all the clubs before we went and some got back to us others didn't respond but I would say we got into about 50 clubs. It was really tough. In London, we ended up doing 15 or 16 but we did on average of 10 to 12 a day.
"We finished up on Friday at Cheltenham and we got seven tickets so got to take our kids to see the match so it was a great way to end it."
But out of all the stadiums they went to, Aaron said Newcastle United gave the lads the best welcome at St James' Park, giving them a full stadium tour and belting out 'Local Hero' as they walked through the tunnel.
He said: "Newcastle was the best experience they played 'Local Hero' while we walked down the tunnel which was such a surreal moment and something I'll never forget. We got a full tour and even got to take some photos in the media room. It was just a great experience. I also really liked the Luton ground."
As well as stadium tours and tickets they also got lots of merchandise which they're going to raffle off. At Carlisle United, they were given a signed pair of boots worn by midfielder Brennan Dickenson, who was there to meet them at Brunton Park.
Through raising awareness of autism, Sam hopes to help anybody in a similar situation to the one he, his wife Anne and their two other sons found themselves in two years ago after Frankie was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
He told the Mirror : "Frankie can be a handful at times, he's a good kid, he's really nice-natured, but I think everyone who can relate to autism can understand the struggles with it. The spectrum's astronomical from one level to another, so everyone's got their own challenges. It's just more about being aware that people are different, understanding that it's not intentional, don't take it personally because they're trying to cope.
"I don't know how Frankie will develop, he's six years old, hopefully, he can become independent when he grows up. We're in the progress of trying to find him a specialist school for him but society can thrive with people who have autism. They can integrate into society like anyone else, they just have to find their niche which is quite common with autism - a lot of people have something they're passionate about. If everyone's aware of that, then society will be a much better place."
So far, the friends have raised £2,700 for the charities. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.
