Champion charity walker and British expat Jamie Lee Valentine has completed a 1,050 km walk in 53 days. His aim is to encourage donations of one million baht (around 23,000 GBP) for the Thai charity Take Care Kids which is hoping to build a new foster home for abused and abandoned children.
Now back in his favorite Pattaya resort, Mr Valentine said, “It has been a long saga walking mostly along dusty and smelly main roads to Phuket so I was glad to travel back by plane and not on foot.” In remarks to the Bangkok Post, he said he had been diagnosed en route with sciatica, a painful and debilitating disease of the lower spine which spreads to the legs. He claimed he had rested for two days and has not had any problems since. Pattaya nerve specialist Dr Jay Promkhuntod commented, rest and exercise were the key in many patients, but a program should be approved by a doctor as every case is different.
A father of two, Mr Valentine has made several other charity walks both here, in UK and in the Philippines. He has in mind to walk to Penang in Malaysia because “it also begins with the letter P.” During the Phuket trek, he received the support of friends and, in particular, the Hash House Harriers, an influential group of non-competitive running social clubs. Those wishing to donate can access the Facebook page of Take Care Kids or phone 092 754 8040.
