Thunder, lightning and blisters didn’t stop a kind-hearted trio from braving a 130-mile trek to raise thousands of pounds for a charity close to their hearts.

Mark Cannan, 35, of Workington, walked from Flimby to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle via the West Cumberland Hospital with his son Ellis and nephew Sam, both 13, to follow the journey which Jack Gibson took when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2016 at just 18 months old.

The youngster’s parents, Sam and Andrew, formed the charity Jack’s Journey after their little boy was diagnosed and Mark joined Andrew, who is his wife’s cousin, on a bike ride of the route.

Now Mark, who works in the intensive care unit at the West Cumberland Hospital, has repeated the journey on foot and raised more than £3,000 for the charity.

“Every year I’ve done some charity work but this year was Jack’s Journey and I thought it would be great to redo the journey on foot,” Mark said.

“It was really difficult but they were the pacesetters. Originally I planned on doing it over three days but from the second day the blisters started so it was agony and in the end it was eight days of walking.

“We set off from Flimby and walked up to Maryport; the first two days were more or less circling west Cumbria.

“About halfway through the walk, Andrew came out with Jack and his sister Amelia and it put things into perspective; you’ve got a young lad fighting his battles bravely.

“It was horrendous weather with rain and thunder and lightning but thankfully the last day was hot so we finished on a high.

“I would definitely do it again because it was challenging in every respect, but when you see the number of people who came out and supported us, it was worth it.”

To sponsor the trio, visit Mark’s online fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-cannan1