Duo's marathon walk for Clarets fan David

Friends of a well-known and popular Clarets fan, whose life changed in a second when he suffered a massive stroke while watching his team play, have kicked off a fundraising campaign with £2,500.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Sep 2016, 13:24 BST
Updated 1st Sep 2016, 15:26 BST
Stroke victim David Kenyon with his friends Paul Keenan (left and Richard Reeves, who completed a sponsored walk from Burnley to Windermere to raise 2.500 towards his rehabilitation.Stroke victim David Kenyon with his friends Paul Keenan (left and Richard Reeves, who completed a sponsored walk from Burnley to Windermere to raise 2.500 towards his rehabilitation.
Stroke victim David Kenyon with his friends Paul Keenan (left and Richard Reeves, who completed a sponsored walk from Burnley to Windermere to raise 2.500 towards his rehabilitation.

Paul Keenan and Richard Reeves trekked 54 miles in two days, from Burnley to Windermere, in a sponsored walk to help pay for the intensive round the clock therapy for David Kenyon (55).

He will need it after he collapsed on Saturday, April 9th, while watching Burnley play Leeds at his home in Pike Hill.

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Richard (48) of Roughlee and Paul (50) who lives in Burnley, have both known David as a friend, colleague and fellow footballer for many years. Richard said: “When we heard what had happened to David we were gutted and we wanted to do anything we could to help.”

The duo took two days to complete the walk and braved a variety of weather conditions to complete the 54 mile walk.

Tragedy struck for David a former soldier with the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment who served in Northern Ireland, as he collapsed without warning after shouting “Come on Burnley” when his team scored their winning goal.

He was rushed to the Royal Blackburn Hospital where doctors discovered he had suffered a rare dissection stroke, which affects only 2% of victims and is a rupture of the carotid and vertebral neck arteries. As it is a rare condition medics called on the expertise of a consultant in Cumbria for a diagnosis by live video link.

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The devastating stroke left David, who works as a forklift truck driver for Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick, paralysed down his right side, confined to a wheelchair and it also robbed him of his speech, known as apraxia. He has also lost all sense of co-ordination, movement and a sense of language which is known as aphasia.

David’s wife, Josephine is now preparing for him to come home permanently after months of treatment in hospital and also the Rakehead Rehabilitation Centre where he has been spending Monday to Friday.

Anyone who would like to donate to the fund can do so at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/david-kenyon.

Related topics:ClaretsBurnley