The Adventure of a Lifetime
A lover of walking and the great outdoors, Sally decided that she needed to embark on an adventure following her life-changing stroke early in 2023.
And so began Sally’s pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella in an off-road wheelchair, the MT Push, pushed by her daughter Jannine, with the goal of reaching the Cathedral on her 85th birthday and walking along the aisle.
The MT Push is an all terrain, off-road wheelchair, designed and manufactured by a small UK business, the Mountain Trike Company. They have a number of wheelchairs in their off-road wheelchair range and the MT Push is an attendant wheelchair designed to be pushed and offers a safe, comfortable ride – without this unique wheelchair this adventure would have been a non-starter!
Camino Inglaise is a 74.9km path beginning from A Coruna on the north west corner of Spain. This became the starting point for many pilgrims arriving from the UK, hence it has become known as the English Way.
However the distance from this starting point is short of the distance required to apply for a Compostella on arrival at the Pilgrims Office in Santiago de Compostella (the Compostella is given to those who have completed a pilgrimage on the Way of St James).
Recent agreement with the Pilgrims Office meant that Sally could begin her pilgrimage at St James’ Church in Reading and follow the St James’ Way to Southampton; the mileage (100km) from which would then count towards her final distance and her Compostella. This was evidenced from the many stamps collected in her Pilgrim Passport from numerous churches, cafes and pubs along both paths here in the UK and in Galicia.
Time for the Next Adventure…
Having overcome many obstacles including stiles, kissing gates and narrow bridges, Sally completed the St James’ Way in December 2024. She decided that she would like to reach the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostella on her 85th Birthday, on April 6th. And so the logistical jigsaw began to ensure that all resources, people and equipment were in the right places at the right time for this unique pilgrimage.
Not content with just completing the Camino Inglaise Sally decided that she wanted to use it as an opportunity to raise funds for a new hoist for Twyford Stroke Ward at Winchester Hospital. This was the ward that she was on after her stroke and she was very aware that the lack of a second hoist meant that often patients had to wait a long time to be assisted with simple things like getting out of bed or going to the toilet.
Sally’s pilgrimage from began from A Coruna on 30th March 2025, following in the footsteps of Marjorie Kemp, the first female British pilgrim to take the same route in Medieval times.
The Camino had very different challenges to St Jame’s Way; language and accessible facilities being the main ones, but the route is so well marked it is far more difficult to take a wrong turn. Hills were far greater and the surface was incredibly challenging for Sally as she was bumped along for hours at a time.
Along both the English and the Spanish path, Sally encountered, what she called, Camino Angels. These people appeared just when needed; whether to help with pushing power up the steepest of hills, opening a village hall for a toilet and cup of tea or to provide an umbrella when a sharp shower hit…it’s the Camino energy….
Absolute courage, determination and resilience saw Sally reach the Cathedral for Sunday Mass on her birthday on the 6th April. More Camino magic occurred when the Council for Camino Inglaise, arranged for Sally to enter the Cathedral through an accessible entrance (the Holy door) and to sit amongst 100’s of other pilgrims from all over the world, who had also reached the end of their own journey…what a celebration! So many people were part of getting to the end of this journey and Sally talks about them all being essential cogs in the Camino wheel.
Mission Accomplished and Target Funds Raised
Sally was elated to realise that she had hit, and exceeded, her target amount for the purchase of a hoist – any additional funds will be used to purchase a sling or two to use with the new hoist.
Sally called her project Adversity To Adventure and her underpinning message is to let people know that life can go on, and still be full of adventure, even when something like a stroke occurs – hopefully it will inspire others to live life to the full, whatever their circumstances.