May Hamilton enjoys a bracing seaside walk which is just as well as the plucky pensioner plans to complete 40 lengths of the world’s longest pier in aid of charity.
The equivalent distance of 49 miles is the same as the 40 lengths of Southend pier!. May is doing this amazing feat in aid of St Mark’s Hospital and Northwick Park where she has been treated over the years.
The 82 year-old is no stranger to a challenge (or a pier) having earlier walked all of the UK’s 54 piers with her late husband in aid of the British Lung Foundation.
May said: “I like to keep active and this is my way of saying thank you to the hospitals who’ve done so much for me.”
The challenge is no small undertaking as May was involved a serious road traffic accident two years and still wears a spinal brace.
“I’ve got a few things wrong with me but I don’t let that stop me,” added the mother of one who abseiled down the side of Southend Hospital when she was 75 and goes to tango and tai chi classes to keep mobile.
May begins her week long walk on her birthday on June 1. She hopes to raise £3,000.