Francis has recently walked over 100km of the Camino de Santiago pilgrims’ walk, in memory of his wife Carol and to raise money to help fund our Hospice Care.
Carol was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and was cared for by staff at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. Towards the end of 2024, as her condition worsened, she was referred to Phyllis Tuckwell.
“Carol was in a lot of pain, and she went back into hospital for them to manage that,” said her husband, Francis. “I used to go in and see her every day. She was in there until just before Christmas Eve, but she ended up going back in again on Boxing Day, and she died there on 3rd January.”
“Carol and I had always donated items to Phyllis Tuckwell’s shops. There’s a shop in Cranleigh, where we lived, and anything that we thought could be reused always went there. My father and several other relatives of ours died from cancer, so it was just natural to carry on the donations to Phyllis Tuckwell after Carol was referred to their care.”
“I first walked part of the Camino de Santiago about eight years ago. It was part of a stag do, and we all booked it little realising that it was going to be as hot as it was. We walked the first 90 miles of the route north from Seville. It was between 36 to 42 degrees. We did it over five days, and it was a struggle. This time, I thought, OK, the weather's supposed to be around 22 to 24 degrees, so it will be easier, but actually it got up to around 32 degrees. Again, I did about 90 miles, which is 117km, over five days. You travel a certain distance each day and you have a route passport which you get stamped at local hostels and cafes along the way, to prove that you've done the walk. I stayed in hostels and the first few days were very nice. I walked about 25 kilometres a day, which is 17 to 18 miles. On the third day we had to do 32 kilometres, which is over 26 miles. It was hottest day, and there were hills. I thought it would be fairly flat, but unfortunately it wasn't! I did suffer, but I felt that I'd accomplished something because, as I'd said to Carol, I needed to do this.”
