He has trekked across almost an entire continent but the end is in sight for an army reservist who set off from Cyprus on a 2800-mile charity walk in March.
Ed Lloyd Owen, who was brought up in mid-Norfolk before joining the army, is due back on British soil on Sunday (23) when he will walk the final miles of his epic journey to his finish line at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London on Thursday, August 27.
The army captain and self-employed photographer is raising money for forces charity Walking With The Wounded, founded by fellow Norfolk man Edward Parker.
He set an ambitious target of £25,000 and his current total stands at just over £20,000 but would dearly love to have the full total pledged by the end of his walk.
Completing between 20 and 25 miles a day the 34-year-old, whose parents still live at Great Dunham, near Dereham, has climbed mountains and pounded streets in Turkey, Macedonia, Albania, Italy and Switzerland and is currently in northern France.
His father Christopher said: 'Children sometimes surprise parents, but this time Antonia and I are simply astonished at what Ed has achieved. He's been cold, wet, ill and sunburnt - and suffered badly from the heatwave in Italy. Morale has been up and down too – mostly up. He's been attacked by dogs, scratched by thorns, bitten by mosquitoes and thrown off a motorway by the Greek cops.
'But he's never stopped, and we are immensely proud of him and the money he's raised for Walking With The Wounded. Nearly home now, and he's still cheerful but pretty exhausted – we're all looking forward to a really good party next Thursday in a Chelsea pub.'
Capt Lloyd Owen has visited numerous battlefields and war cemeteries to pay his respects to fallen soldiers along the way.
This week he was a the Bellicourt British Cemetery, one the road between St Quentin and Cambrai where he particularly wanted to visit the grave of war hero Lt Col Bernard Vann, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War for 'most conspicuous bravery, devotion to duty and fine leadership'.
He is now heading towards Dunkirk, stopping off at the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres en route.
In a recent blog he wrote: 'It's been an extraordinary experience; difficult, hot, cold, lonely, funny, emotional and mentally and physically exhausting in a way I couldn't have imagined. But crucially also hugely rewarding, not just for myself, but also in the raising of the money for Walking With The Wounded, which I hope will only increase.'
* To donate to the walk visit the website www.justgiving.com/shortwalkhome.
* Are you doing something extraordinary for charity? Email kathryn.cross@archant.co.uk.
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