Martin re-creates famous 120km-long Camino pilgrimage from the driveway of his Lisburn home
The cancer patient and retired GP is raising money for Trocaire
Last updated 30th Apr 2020
A cancer patient from County Antrim is setting off today (Thursday) on a 120-km charity walk .... all on his drive-way.
Retired GP Martin McMullan intends replicating the famous Spanish Camino pilgrimage all from his Lisburn home.
Just days before his 58th birthday, he wants to raise as much money as possible for poverty charity Trocaire.
Martin says he's hoping it makes a difference
"Certainly this is a challenge but it is for a very worthy cause and I am convinved it will make a difference – lots of charities are having a difficult time with fundraising and I’m doing my wee bit to help," he told Downtown Radio & Cool FM.
The father-of-five was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer (myeloma) in 2012 just after his 50th birthday which makes him on the highly vulnerable list, so during this pandemic Martin is living in his garden ‘shed’, sheltering from his wife and three children who are living in the house.
Martin is a member of St John's Rambling Retirees Walking Club, he has been part of a group which is walking the French Camino, with the next pilgrimage trip due to take place next year. Martin also walks regularly with St Patrick's Parish Walking Group in Lisburn.
Plans to walk the ‘Irish Camino’ around the Boyne Valley this summer have been affected by the current Coronavirus pandemic. However, one night on a Zoom call with siblings, while drinking a glass of Spanish Rjoja wine, he decided to complete the next stage of the Camino Francais in his driveway.
He plans on doing the walk just as he would if he was doing the real thing - only stopping when he would have reached a village. He has his guide book to keep him on track of where he’s going and what churches he would be passing on route.
Martin will be continuously updating his Just Giving page (https://justgiving.com/fundraising/martin-mcmullan2) with his progress, which has already exceeded his expectation of £500, hitting more than £11,000 in just a couple of days.