A Surrey woman has taken on a walking challenge in memory of a good friend she lost to meningitis
Yoga teacher Neetu Dhillon, from Twickenham, accompanied by her friend Chris, from Staines, has just completed the West Highland Way from Milngavie, north of Glasgow, to Fort William.
“It's the toughest thing I've ever done – the walk was very challenging physically, mentally and emotionally,” Neetu said."
“It's been eight long days covering 94 miles by foot. We've carried everything we needed to survive - tent, clothes, food, water - and camped out in the wild."
“We collected our water each day from the rivers we passed."
Lots of midges – and blisters
“There were lots of midges and I had lots of bites from them! I also earned quite a few blisters within the first two days which made walking a lot harder."
“By day three I had reached my breaking point and felt like giving up."
“However, doing it for Katherine encouraged me to keep going and allowed us to complete the walk a whole day earlier than we anticipated."
“All of this has been in memory of my friend Katherine and we have so far raised over £820 for Meningitis Now."
“A big thank you to everyone for the support and donations so far.”
If anyone would like to donate you can do so here.
Money and awareness
Neetu’s friend Katherine Burridge, from Twickenham, fell ill and died from meningitis in 2016. Since then her father Graeme has actively volunteered for us, raising money and awareness.
Neetu added, “Katherine lost her life to meningitis last year at just 23 years old. She was a lovely, kind person with a contagious laugh. She is much loved and will always be remembered.”
Carrie Bater, Community Fundraiser at Meningitis Now, said, “Thank you so much to for taking on this challenge for us and well done on completing such an arduous walk."
“We’re really grateful to you and your efforts will make a real difference to those who are at risk from meningitis and those whose lives have been changed forever because of it.”
