A Westbury man has raised thousands for charity after completing a gruelling endurance challenge involving cycling, kayaking and hiking in memory of his brother.
Over 11 days, Lee Salter and his friend Shai cycled 1,875km across the length of the UK, climbed 47km up the UK’s three largest mountains whilst carrying their bikes on their backs, and kayaked 61km across the largest lakes in England, Scotland and Wales.
The challenge was undertaken to raise money for the charity Anthony Nolan in memory of Lee’s brother Aaron, who died in 2019.
Aaron was 34 when he died, having been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at 28 and receiving a stem cell transplant as part of his treatment. Before his death, Aaron was fundraising for Anthony Nolan, something Lee promised to continue.
During the challenge, the pair faced relentless wind and rain, dangerous conditions on the water, physical breakdown, sleep deprivation and a high-speed crash on day six.
“By that point, we were already physically exhausted, carrying fatigue from consecutive long days, extreme sleep deprivation and some seriously tough conditions,” said Lee.
“I came off the bike at speed – around 30 to 35kmph on a steep 20 per cent descent in very wet conditions.
“I went over a verge and hit the roadside pretty hard, leaving me with significant bruising and swelling around my eye, nose and jaw, with the worst injuries around my mouth and gums and eye socket.
“After around 20 minutes of spitting blood, cleaning myself up with water and whatever we could find, we pushed on. The remainder of the nine-hour day was a mixture of painkillers, grit and simply refusing to stop.
“Moments like that quickly remind you how unpredictable and demanding these types of endurance events can be. When you’re pushing your body day after day, tiredness and concentration become real factors, and things can change in an instant. There was definitely a moment of taking stock, but with the scale of the challenge, the time pressure we were under and, more importantly, knowing why we had started – in memory of Aaron and to raise money for Anthony Nolan – stopping never really felt like an option.”
So far, the pair have raised more than £4,000 for the charity, which supports people with blood cancer and helps find lifesaving stem cell donors.
“To my big brother Aaron – I hope we’ve made you proud,” said Lee.
“I hope somewhere you were watching, laughing at us, shaking your head at the chaos at times, and guiding us in your own way.
“And to Shai – I genuinely do not know another man who could have stood beside me and completed what we’ve just done. Through every climb, every lake, every setback, every dark moment and every ridiculous day of exhaustion – you never once wavered. I genuinely could not have done this without you.
“Our target of £5,000 is in sight and the JustGiving page is still active. Please share and support if you can.”
To donate to the fundraiser, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/end-to-end-aaron
