Melksham woman completes 60-mile challenge in memory of friend

A Melksham woman has completed a 60-mile charity challenge in her wheelchair, raising more than £1,000 for the mental health charity Samaritans in memory of a close friend.

Throughout April, Chloe Orr completed up to three miles a day around Melksham in her wheelchair with her dog Moni, taking on the charity’s ‘Walk 60 Miles with your Dog in April’ challenge in her own way after her friend Damian died by suicide last year.

After being involved in a car accident in 2015, Chloe sustained a spinal cord injury and is a full-time wheelchair user. She also lives with fibromyalgia and said the daily distances were a major physical challenge.

She said, “Every day I was really tired and really sore and in the mornings, I would wake up and be really stiff. It can be hard going out in a wheelchair because in Bowerhill in particular you don’t get many dropped curbs.”

Chloe has raised £1,187 for Samaritans, which offers a 24-hour listening service by phone, email and in face-to-face branches.

Chloe met Damian when they were teenagers and part of the same friendship group at college. Their lives changed in 2015 when both were involved in separate accidents just months apart, leaving them both wheelchair users. They later found themselves in the same rehabilitation hospital, where their friendship grew stronger.

She said, “We saw each other in rehab so that bought us closer. It hit me really hard when he took his own life. When I saw this advertised, it was like something was telling me I needed to do it.

“Damian was a very active person, so I knew he would encourage me to go and challenge myself. He was your typical ‘cheeky chap.’ He loved a joke, loved a prank and just loved making people laugh. Confidence was never something he lacked. He had absolutely no fear of embarrassment or what anyone thought of him. When you go through something like we did, and then you meet someone who truly gets it not just mentally, but physically too, it creates a bond like no other. I miss him so much and would do anything to have him back.”

She said the fundraiser has helped her both physically and mentally and she plans to keep going. “Moni and I are going to carry it on, we might not be strict about doing two miles, but we are going to keep going,” Chloe said.

“People have been so, so lovely and generous; they have been so supportive. They have all donated their hard-earned money to the charity and it just feels incredible to know that that money is going to go to a good cause and to help other people and hopefully save lives.”

Her fundraising page will remain open for another two weeks. She added, “There are people out there who genuinely care. People who will listen without judgment, without rushing you, without trying to fix you. Please don’t suffer in silence, reach out to a friend, family, Samaritans or even me, just please don’t do it alone.”

To donate visit,  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chloe1773822520677

Pictured: Chloe and her dog Moni