'I had blisters on blisters' - Woman completes 80-mile charity trek

A woman has conquered heat exhaustion and feet covered in blisters to complete an 80-mile trek and raise over three grand for charity.

Abbie Moyse from Fakenham took part in ‘the final trek’ for Rugby against Cancer, an 80 mile, 32 hour, non-stop trek from London to Portsmouth all raising money for the charity.

The walk started at Guy’s Hospital Cancer Care Centre on May 29. From there they crossed the capital before heading through Hampshire returning to Portsmouth Rugby Club at 6pm the following day.

Mrs Moyse did the walk for her husband, who has been battling thyroid cancer since 2018, and for her father in law, who died from the disease just a week before the walk.

With temperatures in the 20s and no sleep, the 37-year-old described just how tough the walk was and how she battled through.

“Early in the morning, the medical team advised me not to continue my walk due to an injury on my ankle and I had blisters on blisters and had gone to no skin at all on my feet,” she said.

“They advised me not to walk and I said there is no way I'm not finishing, and I asked for one last chance to tape it all up.

“That was the darkest point for me and I’m very headstrong and I thought that what I was going through is nothing compared to what families go through on the treatment side. People have paid me to do this so I used the strength seen in my husband."

Mrs Moyse has been involved with rugby for 20 years, playing for the Navy team. She also played for The Valkyries when she was based in Portsmouth. When she moved to Norfolk with her husband Stu, they both played for Fakenham rugby club.

Her fundraising has been a huge success, raising more than £3,000, which goes into the charity's pot which has just ticked over £70,000, which she said made all the pain worth it.

“When we crossed the line, we were feeling exhausted, and that emotion hit me,” she said.