End of trek for Susan

A £50,000 fundraising trek by a woman diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease comes to an end in the Borders this weekend.

With just a handful of days left before Susan Fletcher Watts and her friends arrive in Kirk Yetholm on Saturday, May 21, on completion of the Pennine Way Challenge, her fundraising effort is just over £3,000 short of its target.

At the beginning of 2021, Susan, from Oxfordshire, was a completely healthy 59-year-old with a very active lifestyle.

Then in July of last year she received the devastating news that she had MND, with life expectancy for the disease just three years from the onset of symptoms.

All the money raised from her effort will go towards finding a cure.

She said: “The diagnosis was devastating for me, my husband Brian, my children Aidan and Jessica, and my family and friends.

“I am a keen hiker and Brian and I had planned to walk England’s oldest and toughest national trail, the 260-mile Pennine Way, upon retirement in a few years’ time. MND wasn’t going to stop me.

“But I needed to accelerate my plans. My neurologist advised me I should be okay to walk it provided I do so by Spring/early summer 2022.”

Around 170 people have joined Sue for part or all of the trek, which started at Edale in the Peak District.

Supporter Jacquie Cooke said: “A typical day has been about 20 walkers and some weekends have seen nearly 50 walking together. Though things haven’t gone completely to plan it has been a magical adventure all the way.”

Sue and her pals are scheduled to arrive at Kirk Yetholm at 3.45pm on Saturday, at the junction of the High Street and Main Street and plan to head to the Border Hotel on The Green straight afterwards to celebrate.

To support Susan’s efforts, click here.