Mum’s delight as 50-mile walk raises £3k for Air Ambulance

Mum’s delight as 50-mile walk raises £3k for Air Ambulance

8 May 2019

SHE may have sore feet covered with blisters but Ballynahinch mother Dawne Dickey is jubilant after having completed her 50-mile walk in aid of Air Ambulance NI.

“I’m absolutely knackered and feel that it all really hasn’t hit me yet,” said Dawne on Monday, “but it looks like I have raised £2,500 to date and I think it will go up to £3,000 by the time all the money comes in.”

The childminder wanted to raise money for the regional emergency service after the Air Ambulance helped her daughter Robyn who was injured in a serious car crash near Temple last summer.

She walked 50 miles over two days at the weekend, leaving Ballynahinch at 8pm to walk 28 miles Kilkeel where she stayed with her aunt.

Then on Sunday she walked 22 miles from Quarter Road, Silent Valley, to Ballynahinch, arriving at the Square at 4.45pm to a welcoming group of family members and friends.

Dawne was supported along the route by her husband, Ralph, Robyn’s twin sister, Ellen, who travelled ahead by car several miles at a time, and members of her weight loss group, WST.

Her own twin sister, Andrea Murphy, and her nephew, Ryan, joined her in walking from Drumaness to Ballynahinch.

A friend Barbara Young, who also from Ballynahinch, raised more than £150 for her by walking from Ballynahinch to Clough on Saturday.

However, things were not plain sailing as Dawne revealed she developed an injury on her last training session last Tuesday night.

“I got shin splints on one leg, probably from all the training and I was glad I had a few rest days so that I could ice it and rest up,” she said.

“Saturday was also a beautiful day but I was really feeling every step the last few miles into Kilkeel due to the weather and I was never so glad to see the place.

“Sunday was not so bad as it was quite overcast and that was really welcome.”

Dawne, a mother-of-three, says that she has been completely overwhelmed by the support she has received, particularly from strangers as she walked along.

“I received £385 from people along the road who saw my ’50 miles for Air Ambulance’ writing on my hi-vis vest and some people had been looking out for me after reading about in the paper.

“I even met one woman along the road who’s on the air ambulance team and she said that they had been talking about what I was doing. She gave me a red inflatable helicopter to carry,” laughed Dawne.

“But I’m honestly overwhelmed by people’s generosity and support as it’s something that I never would have done had it not been for Robyn’s accident.”

Dawne and her family also hosted a very successful coffee morning. There’s still time to support her charity walk by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dawne-dickey.