A landscape designer from Glossop is about to embark on a massive marathon running challenge to raise thousands of pounds in aid of his cousin who needs life-changing medical treatment.

Dave Hine, 39, will run ten marathons in ten days across ten counties from this Saturday (20 May), to raise £50,000 for his cousin Maddy who has multiple sclerosis.

The 41-year-old mother-of-three was 17 when first diagnosed with the degenerative disease which affects the brain and nervous system.

Until recently she’s been able to to self-manage the symptoms of the incurable illness alongside bringing up her three children and running her own business, but now the brutal condition is developing more rapidly.

Without any available medicine in the UK, Maddy’s mobility and quality of life could quickly deteriorate.

A glimmer of hope had been a new treatment called HSCT which is being trailed in this country, but Maddy doesn’t fit the criteria to take part in the study.

With a 75 per cent chance it could halt Maddy’s MS progressing any further, the family are desperate to access HSCT by other means.

Their hopes have turned to the only other place pioneering the treatment - but that’s in Mexico.

So that’s why Dave will join Maddy’s husband Phil on the gruelling 10:10:10 runs from this weekend to raise the £50,000 needed to get her there.

The marathons will start in Cornwall and take them all the way to London before finishing in the couple’s home county of Wiltshire.

But before then the Old Glossop-based designer has been pounding the High Peak, with his training to cover 26 miles every day for ten consecutive days nearly at its end.

Dave said: “I’ve got the best training ground in the world running around Glossop, with Bleaklow Moor and the Woodhead reservoirs serving as ideal places to prepare for this really important challenge. MS is a brutal and cruel condition and the treatment in Mexico could honestly change Maddy’s life; giving her many more good years with Phil and their children. That is driving me through the training, the blisters and the sore knees - knowing that raising this money and getting Maddy to Mexico is our only hope.”

The first marathon will take place on 20 May and the last on 29 May. 

So far nearly £29,000 has been raised towards the target through a number of fundraising events and marathon sponsorship.

If you’d like to donate you can visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-maddy-to-mexico

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