St Andrews Uni students' epic cycle to prevent hearing and sight loss in Africa
Alex McMaster and Merlin Hetherington covered 10,000km over the last seven months whilst handing out diagnostic devices to medical centres
There's hope fewer people in Africa will suffer from preventable loss of sight and hearing after two St Andrews Uni students completed a gruelling challenge handing out diagnostic devices
Alex McMaster and Merlin Hetherington have spent the last seven months cycling across the continent supplying medical centres with 'arclights' - an easy to use tool for countries with limited equipment.
Merlin said many of the facilities he visited couldn't afford them.
"Normally they cost around $600 - $700, so they don't have one in their place of work.
Sometimes they're broken and it costs to much to repair them. For them to finally have their own device, they said it would make a huge difference."
The pair set off in October 2018, starting in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and were supported along the way by around-the-world cyclist Mark Beaumont.
"Mark did a very similar route to us from Cairo to Cape Town a few years ago and broke the world record," said Alex.
"We had a lot of help from him at the start with planning the route and some of advice for being on the road.
"He's a really great guy to help us out and was in touch the whole trip."
The medical tool was developed by academics at St Andrews University and aims to ensure people get faster diagnoses.
Lecturer Dr Andrew Blaikie said it will make a big difference in areas where medical equipment is very limited.
"The burden of disability and disease is greatest in Africa but they have the least access to practical tools," he said.
"The arclight is a low cost device, it's solar powered and very simple to use. It can identify all the major causes of blindness and deafness."