Paramedic walking from Portland to Southampton... backwards

Wayne Ingram MBE's daughter had to have surgery to correct her 90 degree spinal deformation.

Author: George SharpePublished 13th Apr 2022

A paramedic from Portland is walking from his home to Southampton... backwards.

Wayne Ingram MBE is known best for his seven day stint on a liferaft with very little food and drinking water.

But he says this next task outranks all his other crazy ideas.

He's taking on the 70 mile challenge in the name of his daughter Freya. Last year surgeons had to correct her spine with metal rods after she developed a 90 degree deformation over four weeks.

His slogan is 'Let's reverse this together' as he walks backwards with his spotter Mick Cowles raising money for Scoliosis research and the Masonic Charitable Foundation who paid for Freya's operation.

So far the pair have raised £2.700 for the cause.

Wayne told Greatest Hits Radio this is the first time he's really been nervous about a stunt. He said:

"I must admit I woke up in a cold sweat thinking 'what have I really done?'

"It's for a good cause to help with Scoliosis. Let's fund research into it, lets raise money so they can try to find a reason why this happens in children.

"If I'm truthful I'm really worried about my ankle, it's really painful but the way I see it is I can get over it, but it's nothing in comparison to the pain the children have at the latter stages of their disability."

Mick Cowles is helping guide Wayne along the way. He said:

"There's a military saying 'I've got your six' and it mean's 'I've got your back'.

"I'm watching his back so that he doesn't fall, trip or injure himself so that's my job to be his eyes and also to keep him motivated and watch out for his morale."

If you'd like to find out more about how to donate to Wayne's cause, you can do so here.