Runner nears end of 350-mile feat across Ireland

A 21-year-old fundraiser has raised nearly £50,000 through a 350-mile run across Ireland to raise money for the Warwick children's charity Molly Ollys.

Samuel Attwell, from Worcestershire, set out on a mission to run from the northernmost tip at Malin Head to the southernmost point, Mizen Head, over 10 consecutive days.

Despite the recent heatwave, by around midday on Wednesday he was nearing the end of the ultra-challenge, making him one of the youngest solo runners to have completed the route, the charity said.

"Having lost a close friend to cancer, I've seen the impact it has on others and it makes the challenge personal," he told BBC CWR.

Attwell has documented the journey on his Instagram page and told followers that watching his friend die from cancer at the age of 18, and his grandmother also succumbing to the disease, inspired him to keep going.

He added: "It's no easy feat, and I knew going in that there is a really good cause behind it.

"It's hard to think straight when you're going through pain that you've never felt before in your life — I've felt that about six times over the past week.

"I do think a lot about the families and the children that the charity will be helping, and it helps put things in perspective.

"I might be in a lot of pain right now, but at the end of it I will come out alive, well, and healthy, with my family around me — and unfortunately that's not the case for a lot of children and families."

By 17:00 BST, more than £46,700 had been raised for the charity, which aims to support children with terminal and life-threatening illnesses throughout the UK.

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