Daunting but exciting

This is a first time blog for me, but hopefully the first of very many!

Today my daughter and I set up our web site ; twomillionsteps.com, we worked out our stopping places and ordered some really good maps.

But, back to the beginning..... we as a family suffer from something called Ehler's Danlos Syndrome. It affects our joints mainly and can be very painful. My daughter, Charlotte, is badly affected and now unable to walk. Added to this, Charlie began some years ago to suffer problems that didn't appear to be caused by the Ehler's Danlos Syndrome (EDS). We now have a good idea of what the problem is and although a different one it is closely linked to EDS. Charlie has no sensation in her right side. She has constant severe headaches and other neurological difficulties. There is a centre in New York that specialises in this condition, and whilst we are realistic and accept that there is no cure, we need to do everything possible to ensure that she doesn't deteriorate further. Charlie is 24 years old and the most positive, optimistic person you could ever wish to meet.

I can walk, albeit in a rather wobbly way and with two sticks, so it's by walking that I intend to help Charlotte and many other people whose lives are made more difficult by crippling diseases.

I have been fascinated for many years by the South West Coast Path - the longest long distance footpath in Britain. I wanted to walk it twenty years ago but the fates conspired against me and it didn't happen. Now it makes sense. Now I NEED to do it, it's not just that I want to.

I've measured my stride and worked out that from the start at Minehead to the end at South Haven Point in Dorset is (roughly) 2,000,000 steps.

To raise money for Charlotte's treatment and funds for Action Medical Research I intend to sell each step for 10p - the potential is there to help Charlie and a lot of other people too.

I will update this blog as the training goes ahead, it'll help to have a vent for the good and the bad, for the doubts and fears, for the upbeat positive times when I KNOW I'm going to do it. I'll put in pictures of my dog Milo who will be coming with me, of my other dog Treacle who will be too old to walk but will be there in the campervan to greet me at the end of each days walk, and then, next June, when the walk starts, I'll update every day, so if you're out there and reading this, join me, it'll be quite a ride!

Be back soon,

Susan