A GRANDMA walked the length of mainland Great Britain to thank staff who saved her grandchildren’s lives. 

Diana Kitching, aged 68, walked from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland to raise money for the Bolton NHS charitable fund that supported her family. 

In 2015, Diana’s daughter Catherine Winterburn was only 27 weeks pregnant when a routine scan showed her twin boys were not growing and blood flow was no longer reaching them. 

On that same day Catherine, from Milness, was taken to Bolton by ambulance and gave birth to her twin sons Stanley and Arthur, weighing only 1lb 9ozs and 1lb 10ozs respectively. They were cared for there at the neonatal intensive care unit for many weeks before they were able to go home. 

Diana, from Leck, near Kirkby Lonsdale, walked for 53 days, averaging around 15 to 18 miles a day, on her fundraiser.
She was helped by the summer heatwave but also had to battle the heavy rain and cold wind. 
“I started wearing a sun hat to avoid sun stroke but by the end of the trip I could have done with a woolly hat and gloves,” said Diana. 
“This is the third time that I have done the walk and it’s very interesting to see the changes in scenery from when I first did it back in 1978. I did the trek on my own, it was just me and my thoughts.”

Catherine said Arthur and Stanley were now healthy, lively, three-year-olds obsessed with playdough.

 Donations can be made on www.justgiving.com/fundraising/catherine-winterburn