Rochdale man to undertake "walk of his life" along 150-mile Grand Union Canal after surviving two cardiac arrests and toe amputation

A Rochdale man is undertaking “the walk of his life” after surviving two cardiac arrests and toe amputation by walking the length of the Grand Union Canal from London to Birmingham.

Ian ‘Bill’ Bailey, originally of Rochdale but now living in Bury, will start the 150-mile journey on 24 July from the River Thames at Brentford, London to Gas Street Basin in Birmingham and aims to complete the walk on 8 August.

He hopes to raise £500 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution “due to his love of water and admiration of its volunteers” and the British Heart Foundation, for “giving me a second chance at life.”

Ian began preparing for the walk in 2021, with the epic initially planned for June 2022.

However, on 2 January 2022, Ian suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The life-long Rochdale AFC fan said: “Fortunately, I was amongst family who were able to call for help and successfully conduct CPR until the paramedics arrived, breaking several ribs in the process.”

Ian then suffered a second cardiac arrest whilst he was at A&E, before being blue-lighted to a specialist heart centre, where he remained in a coma for seven days.

During this time, a blood clot travelled from his heart to his foot, killing the blood supply and resulting in his toes being amputated.

He added: “Recovery has been a long journey that I can continue to travel, with permanent damage to my heart, brain function and foot.

“Despite this, I was always determined to complete this walk, albeit 12 months later. Here I am, 12 months after coming off my crutches, ready to undertake the walk of my life and raising money for charitable causes in the process.

“The walk is completely self-funded. 100% of funds raised will be split evenly and donated to two charities:

“RNLI - This has been my chosen charity for life due to my love of water and my admiration for those who volunteer to save lives.

“BHF - I am one of the 2% of people who suffer out of hospital cardiac arrest and survive and as such I will be donating funds to this charity in recognition of their work and support towards giving me a second go at life.”

Stepson Lee Taylor added: “Bill is continuing as planned and he has worked tirelessly towards his recovery.

“I find this story truly incredible, and it's been an incredibly difficult period for him and our family.”

Donations can be made via JustGiving:

• www.justgiving.com/page/ian-bill-bailey-bhf