Lucy Lewis is an FNF Scholar and Alumni Champion. Read on to find out why she walked 90 miles in 90 days for FNF’s 90th anniversary campaign and how you can join us.
“Twelve months ago I prolapsed a disc. I was in immense pain, was taking super strong pain meds, had 6 weeks off my amazing job as a Consultant Nurse in a Hospital at Home service, couldn’t drive let alone exercise. I was miserable, wasn’t sleeping and the weight began to pile on (having successfully sent the covid calories packing!). With the help of a steroid injection and an amazing physio, I slowly recovered, kicked the meds, got back to work and my PhD and returned to gentle exercise.
I needed a challenge though and was too nervous to go back to weight training and circuits. I then hit on the idea of walking 90 miles in 90 days as part of FNF’s 90th anniversary celebrations. I pledged to donate a pound for every mile I walked.
I was on annual leave for the Easter holidays when I started on the 9th April and so got a good 7 miles done in the first week. However my role requires long days, lots of driving and sitting at desks so I usually had to make the miles up at weekends.
Then in May I had to make an emergency flight to Glasgow as my previously fit Dad had become critically ill with sepsis. He was on the High Dependency Unit in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth’s hospital and the care he received there was remarkable. I clocked up many miles walking from the car park to that unit!
The nurses on the unit and the person-centred care they provided my dad made me so proud of our profession. One nurse was a keen hill walker and he and my dad would exchange stories of their mutual “Monroe bagging” experiences.
By the 7th of July I had completed my 90 miles in 90 days (and some!).
My parents were so grateful to the nursing profession that my dad asked me what a meaningful way would be to make a difference. When I told my parents about FNF’s 90 at 90 campaign to fund leadership scholarships for 90 student nurses and midwives, 90 early career nurses and 90 ward managers/social care nurses, they didn’t need much convincing.
As well as the amazing nursing care my dad had received, they understood how much of an impact my FNF scholarship has had on me. Therefore, we have happily donated £90 each (£270 total) to the FNF campaign.
On the 11th of July, a few days after completing my challenge, to honour my dad and his ongoing recovery and to give thanks that my own body has (almost) repaired itself, I conquered Ben Lomond, a Scottish Monroe, with my husband and son. I hope that my dad will be able to join us all on a walk sometime soon, when he is much better.
If you would like to do something meaningful to contribute towards FNF’s 90 at 90 campaign, why don’t you set your own challenge! Bake 90 cookies, host a 90s music night and ask your friends to make a donation, ask 90 work colleagues to make a loom band or friendship bracelet then ask a friend to buy it off them! We can all contribute and have fun in the process, you don’t need to run a marathon (unless you really want to, that’s ok too!).”
Lucy is a Consultant Nurse specialising in Frailty and Older People and working in Wiltshire Health and Care Hospital at Home service. She is a PhD candidate investigating ‘How decisions are made with older adults following a new diagnosis of cancer’. You can read more here about her FNF Scholar learning from Frailty quality improvement projects (in Scotland and Halifax, Nova Scotia) and the implementation of research based Older adults Oncology clinics at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Hospital.
