Man walks 120 miles to Latics for friend

ARRIVAL...Nick Tamblyn finishes his 5-day walk from Birmingham to Oldham Athletic to cheers from his family and friends.

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AFTER persevering through an intense 120-mile walk over five days, a dedicated fundraiser finally arrived at his destination – Oldham Athletic’s Football Ground.

Nick Tamblyn took on the challenge of walking from Birmingham to the SportsDirect.com Park in memory of his friend and colleague Damien Doran.

Life-long Latics fan Damien passed away aged 49 on May 1, 2011, after battling cancer.

Despite living in Birmingham, Damien, who was originally from Oldham, kept his season ticket to Oldham Athletic and regularly attended games, cheering his team on both at home and away.

To mark the fifth anniversary of his death, Nick, his colleague at insurance company Perkins Slade, decided to take on the challenge to walk 124 miles from their offices in Birmingham to Latics.

Nick (58) said: “After Damien passed away we organised a memory book where his friends, family and colleagues wrote about how well-loved he was and how he would not be forgotten.

“I wanted to take on this walk to show Damien that we are still thinking of him and still miss him and to continue to raise money for St Richard’s Hospice, who did a brilliant job caring for Damien in his final weeks.

“He was a real football lover and had season tickets to Celtic and West Brom as well as Latics so it made sense to do something football-related to remember Damien.”

The challenge followed previous fundraising challenges in aid of the Worcester-based hospice with Nick taking on the Three Peaks Challenge shortly after Damien’s death.

Nick was greeted by members of Damien’s family and staff from Oldham Athletic as he arrived at the football ground, with the total raised for the charity through the challenge standing at more than £4,000.

Nick added: “It has been tough and I have very sore feet but I have enjoyed it.

“Luckily the weather has been quite good, apart from some heavy rain on the second day.

“I’ve had over 30 people join me for various parts of the walk and they have kept my spirits up.”

To donate visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/displaySomeoneSpecialPage.action?pageUrl=DamienDoran.