A WOMAN will be putting her best foot forward as she treks more than 60 miles from London to Brighton in memory of her father.

Nicki Payne, of St Michael’s Road, Worcester, has 33 hours to complete the 62-and-a-half mile Londond2Brighton challenge when she heads off from Richmond, in south London, at 9am on Saturday, May 24.

She is raising money for the PSP Association – the charity which aims to rid the world of the degenerative brain condition progressive supranuclear palsy.

The 45-year-old consultant said she chose to do the walk, which will see her end up at Brighton racecourse, because her dad, Eric Baldwin, died from the condition in December.

“PSP is often initially mistaken for Parkinson’s Disease,” she said.

“Initially the only way it affected my dad was that he kept falling over but could still walk, he then ended up with a walking frame, but eventually the falls got more frequent and he was unable to walk at all.

“He suffered a stroke in 2012 and it was too difficult for my mum to look after him, so he went into a nursing home.

“This was a heartbreaking decision for my mum because they had been married for 60 years and she wanted to carry on caring for him at home but it just wasn’t possible.”

Aged 82, Mr Baldwin continued to deteriorate in the home, with her mother visiting him twice a day until she passed away in August last year.

“At the end of November it became apparent that he was getting worse and on December 4 he died,” she added.

The mother of one and stepmother of one has been training since September with increasingly longer walks on Saturdays – currently up to 30 miles, and is also walking to work during the week.

To sponsor Mrs Payne, visit justgiving.com/nicki-payne, or for more information, visit london2brightonchallenge.com or pspassociation.org.uk