Dental Hygienist Raises £2,000 For Mouth Cancer Charity After Completing 500 Mile Walk
A dental hygienist from Brighton has raised almost £2,000 for charity after successfully completing a 500 mile trek from Scotland to Brighton.
Christina Chatfield spent a month walking in aid of raising awareness of mouth cancer and successfully completed her mission on the 19th June. The owner of the Dental Health Spa set off from Kirriemuir and made her way down to the south coast of England, eventually arriving a month later. The aim of the walk, which was approximately 500 miles long, was to raise awareness of mouth cancer and to raise funds for Mouth Cancer Action.
During her walk, Christina was joined by family members, friends and colleagues and she was overwhelmed by support from locals who came out to cheer her on and give her the motivation to continue.
While she walked, Christina took the opportunity to chat to people about mouth cancer and she was alarmed at the lack of understanding about the causes and risk factors of mouth cancer among the general public. She said that most people are completely unaware of the link between oral cancer and the human papilloma virus (HPV). Some people she bumped into along the way had never even hard of mouth cancer and this highlighted the need to support charities such as Mouth Cancer Action.
Christina described her month of walking as “gruelling” but said that it was completely worthwhile, especially as she was joined for part of the walk by a mother who had suffered with the disease.
Dr Nigel Carter OBE is chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, in charge of the Mouth Cancer Action charity campaign, congratulated Christina on her incredible achievement and thanked her for choosing to support the mouth cancer campaign. The money she raised will go towards raising the profile of mouth cancer and educating the public so that more lives can be saved in the future.
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