89-year-old Scarborough man undertakes 22-mile challenge for PSPA charity

John, who lives in Scalby, cared for wife Suzanne during the latter stages of her illness, awareness of which was raised in the recently released movie, ‘The Salt Path ‘ starring Gillian Anderson.

John decided to raise funds for charity PSPA – the only UK charity for those affected by Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration - by embarking on a walk from Scarborough to Whitby, following the stunning coastal path, the Cinder Track.

John said: “I thought that given my maturing age, the walk was the only option I’d got to raise money.

“PSP is a degenerative brain disorder, part of the same group of disorders as Parkinson’s disease. It eventually affects balance, movement, vision and speech. As yet, there is no treatment, and I wanted to raise money for the charity.”

Suzanne and John were married for 40 years and moved to Scarborough from Harrogate six years ago to be closer to John’s daughter Naomi.

Initially a preparatory teacher, Suzanne went on to become an educational advisor for the RNIB.

John said: “At the end it was very intense, when Suzanne was clearly dying, Saint Catherine’s Hospice really stood up to the plate. I couldn’t have coped without them.”

John’s daughter Karon Maskill said: “Despite being pretty exhausted after being his wife’s carer these last couple of years, Dad was determined to raise some money for charity."

Karon said: “He’s never done anything like this before, so I am slightly worried, but at least I talked him out of his first idea of doing a marathon!

“His dad also died with Parkinson’s disease so it means a lot.”

Star of stage and screen Suzy Eddie Izzard heard about the challenge and helped John hit his first target of £1,000 but the intrepid octogenarian is hoping to raise much, much more.

John set off on his quest on Monday morning and documented his journey in pictures along the way.

Karon said: “I made him stop for the day after 14 miles. He wanted to carry on, but he had been walking since early morning, the last couple of miles were a struggle as on difficult terrain. He will finish it on Wednesday.”

To show John your support visit his JustGiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/johnmaskill