A self-described “fully-fledged fat man” is, as this blog post is being written, leading a team that’s walking through the UK for SMA.  Gav Thompson of Abingdon, England, is leading a 17-strong team that’s walking a 52-mile tour of of Berkhire and Oxfordshire.

More details from the BBC:

The Abingdon man dreamt up the walking challenge after his best friends’ five-month old daughter Georgia died from the terminal disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA).

The baby girl from Newbury died on Sunday 6 January 2008 after a three-month fight to stay alive.

Gav said: “There is little awareness of SMA in the UK, despite it being the largest genetic killer of babies and toddlers in the UK.”

This spurred Gav into action.

He plumped for a walk to raise awareness and funds for The Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and the Naomi House Children’s Hospice, where baby Georgia passed away.

Gav teamed up with his similarly “generously-proportioned” friend, Matt Whitticase, and the two hauled themselves off the couch and have been training furiously since October.

“We weren’t sure how far we could or should walk,” said Gav, “so to start with we both got on the bathroom scales, only to find that our combined weight was literally ‘off’ the scale.

He added: “Consequently we figured we should walk as many miles as our combined weight - and that gave us the 52 mile target.”

The other walkers are all friends and family of Georgia’s parents, Nick and Emma Macpherson from Newbury, who are also doing the walk.

The 17 walkers have so far raised over £72,000 in sponsorship from friends and colleagues.

The group started its walk on Thursday, February 7.  They’re due to finish tomorrow.

To read the entire BBC article, click here.  To visit the website built about the walk, click here.