March of the Day raises tens of thousands of pounds for Darby Rimmer MND Foundation
It started in Bradford and ended in Liverpool
Last updated 24th Mar 2024
More than £150,000 has been raised as hundreds of people took part in a gruelling walk for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
It started at Valley Parade in Bradford on the morning of Friday 22 March and ended at Anfield in Liverpool on the evening of Sunday 24 March.
The walk covered 178 miles and 17 football clubs.
The challenge was dedicated to Liverpool-born footballer Stephen Darby and Yeovil coach Marcus Stewart, who both live with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
MND affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord and tell your muscles what to do.
It is a life-shortening disease and there is currently no cure.
Friends, family and former team-mates and managers of Stephen and Marcus took part in the challenge to raise money and awareness.
Filipe Morais, a former team-mate of Stephen Darby at Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers, said:
"Everyone is a bit worse for wear, knackered, the limbs are worn down to the bones I think, but I'm so happy to see everyone's faces at the end.
"It was goosebumps stuff!"
"The reception we received, oh my lord! It was really emotional, it was goosebumps stuff!
"Massive thanks to everyone that's come out to support us. I know a lot of people came all the way from Bradford, drove over just to see us walk in! And obviously everyone else that was there - Liverpool fans, Everton fans.
It was just incredible, massive support and it's because of two great guys and the overall cause.
"I would have walked to the end of the world if I could have raised millions"
"Honestly, I would have walked to the end of the world if I could have raised millions upon millions!
"We really want to make it known that the MND community has been fighting for the last 15 months to get the data from the MIROCALS trial. We're waiting for consortium members and doctors and the MNDA to tell us where that trial lies.
"We're really wanting that information and that's what we want to get out there from this walk."
When everyone arrived at Anfield, they were welcomed into the stadium so they could be thanked for their fundraising and awareness efforts.
Marcus Stewart said:
"This is Stephen's (Darby) club - he was here (at Liverpool) as a player and now he's here as part of the Darby Rimmer Foundation and I'm here to support him.
"The ovation was amazing, the amount of people that turned up was more than I expected.
"I'm actually glad I didn't really look back in the stand, (in Anfield) because I was at the front, because I would have seen the full scale of how many people were here.
"The army is getting bigger and it proves that today. The MND derby is getting bigger."