Two boys have walked around the Wirral coast from Seacombe to Thurstaston and back again to raise money for ‘Hope for Hasti‘. The 30-mile walk took them about eight-and-a-half hours to complete.
Ruben Pitt and Louis Mansfield decided to complete the walk after hearing about Major Chris Brannigan, who walked from Land’s End to Edinburgh to raise money for research into Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS.)
Ruben and Louis, who are friends from the Merseyside Wing of the RAF Air Cadets, have both done long walks in the past such as a 50 mile road March at RAF Cosford and a 100 mile march in the Netherlands, “so doing a distance walk seemed the most natural idea for us.”, Ruben said.
On why the boys chose this particular cause to raise money for, Ruben said, “It’s a brilliant charity that’s been set up to help somebody’s child and also many other children around the world, so it just seemed right.”
Louis, along with all other year 11’s in their final year of school, has had a tough year. Despite this, he has shown that he still has a big heart and determination. To give up an entire day walking 30 miles to raise money for Hasti’s cause is heart-melting. Couldn’t be prouder of him and Ruben. What superstars they are! Well done boys.
Dawn Musa – Louis Mansfield’s mum.
Louis said that they left from Seacombe Ferry at 8am on Saturday and that “the first leg to Thursaston we did quite quickly, we got there at about 12:30 and the way back we finished at about 5-6pm.” He added, “It went really well but at the end it started to get really hard like around New Brighton [on the return leg.]” and left them both with aches, pains and blisters.
Hasti’s Story
My name is Chris Brannigan and Hasti is my daughter, she is 8 years old and dreams of being a chef and a dancer. Hasti however has a rare genetic disease, Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). CdLS is characterised by reduced growth, global developmental delay, feeding problems, speech and language difficulties hearing problems and, in many cases, limb abnormalities, but it is rare for children with CdLS to become adults who live independent lives, often needing round the clock care for their entire lives. No cure or treatments exist for this terrible disease which occurs in just one in every 30,000 live births, but we are committed to change that so that all children with CdLS, both now and in the future, can enjoy better lives. But to do that, we need your help. We just need £400,000 to pay for the research to create a treatment for this disease.
I’m super proud of both boys for what they achieved, thank you to everyone who donated. Its just typical of Ruben to want to help other people and says a lot about both boys
Louise Crane – Ruben Pitt’s mum.
Louis told birkenhead.news, “I’m really proud of myself and Ruben for doing it and it’s for a really good cause as well.” He told us about plans to do more charity walks in the future, “we hope to do more like this hopefully soon and maybe with more people involved!”
You can donate to the fundraiser by visiting the JustGiving page here >>> https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ruben-pitt