AN EMOTIONAL proposal marked the end of a 96-mile charity walk completed by an Irvine worker in memory of his partner's late son.
Benjamin Ward, 44, from Falkirk, finished the West Highland Way challenge in 36 hours and 48 minutes before proposing to his partner Natasha Goldthorpe, 37, from Irvine.
Benjamin said: "I don’t think it’s quite sunk in what I managed to do, because I was so just focused on trying to do it for Natasha and Liam – that was really my sole focus in it."
The challenge was undertaken in memory of Natasha's son Liam, who died last October at the age of 13.
Liam had BPAN, a rare and progressive neurological disorder that causes increasing damage to the nervous system.
Benjamin, a manager at a tiling company in Irvine, completed the West Highland Way in a single continuous effort to raise money for Together for Short Lives, a charity that supported the family.
Natasha said: "Liam had a progressive condition, but he was always happy and smiley.
"He had a really contagious smile. He was giggly. He’d find noises really funny.
"He was just such a gorgeous boy."
Benjamin said he was deeply moved by the bond between mother and son.
He said: "I got to know Natasha and I was very much blown away by the care and love and relationship between her and Liam."
This was not his first time taking on the West Highland Way in Liam’s honour.
Last August, he completed the trail in two-and-a-half days to raise funds for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), another charity that supported the family.
That earlier challenge brought the couple closer together, with Natasha revealing her feelings for Benjamin at the finish line.
Given the emotional significance of the route, Benjamin said proposing in Fort William at the end of this year’s challenge felt like the right thing to do.
Natasha said it was "great" to see him jog across the finish line and get down on one knee, but she could not stop laughing.
She said: "It was weird because he was running and smiling, and everybody who was supporting him [for that last section] looked more miserable and more tired and more fed up than he was."
Benjamin faced tough conditions during the walk, including 30 miles overnight in relentless rain.
He said: "It was heavy rain and the wind also picked up, so it was kind of driving rain into our face.
"I couldn’t see probably more than four feet in front of my face because it was just pitch black, and then the rain was just making it even darker.
"The paths had turned to rivers at that point because the rain had been so constant, so all the trails were just full of water.
"My feet were just consistently soaked pretty much the whole night."
Despite the weather, he said he never considered giving up.
He said: "They were my inspiration for doing it, Natasha and Liam have been everything, really.
"I did actually enjoy it, which is a weird thing because I didn’t expect to enjoy it.
"I thought by the finish line I would be crawling."
So far, he has raised more than £3,000 for Together for Short Lives, a UK charity that supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families.
The charity created keepsake necklaces using Liam’s fingerprint for Natasha and her family, free of charge.
Benjamin said: "Having seen first-hand the impact [Together for Short Lives] makes, I wanted to try and support their work for other families faced with such devastating events."
Donations can still be made through his JustGiving page at justgiving.com/page/benjamin-ward-1775733752801.
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