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The Four Blokes on Hikes team of brothers Matt and Tony, and their cousins Jason and Calvin, carried a weighted stretcher 44 miles from RAF Waddington to Nottingham's QMC on Saturday 15 August, in 15 hours and 47 minutes, raising money for the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance in memory of their grandmother, Alice “Mamma” Hill.
We completed the 44-mile carry in 15 hours and 47 minutes on Saturday 15 August. Attribute quotes to Matt, any of the four (Jason, Calvin, Tony), or "the Four Blokes on Hikes team".
"One stretcher, four blokes, 44 miles, for the air ambulance that's there on the worst day of your life."
"44 miles carried. 15 hours and 47 minutes on our feet. One very good reason."
"It hurt. That was rather the point."
"Our feet are broken!"
"We're far from endurance athletes, just relatively ordinary blokes who did a hard thing for a good cause."
"By mile 25, it started to get really difficult. We all went to pretty dark places in our heads at various times, but always had each other to support."
"The last leg mirrored a real patient's journey. QMC has no helipad, so the air ambulance lands nearby and finishes by road, and we walked that same stretch with the loaded stretcher to finish the job."
"The stretcher stood in for the weight of a casualty. Every mile was a small taste of what the crews deal with, and a reminder of exactly who we were raising money for."
"One guy, Russ, saw us in Newark and donated as we walked past. He went home and read about us on our website, and when he realised we were doing all 44 miles in a single day, not over several, he got on his motorbike and tracked us down in Nottingham so he could donate again."
"Our family were incredible all day, keeping us fed and watered, lifting our morale and helping us keep moving. We couldn't have done it without them."
"Our grandmother, Mamma, quietly supported the air ambulance for years. After we lost her, carrying this stretcher felt like the right way to keep going what she started."
"The air ambulance is the service you pray you'll never need, and are so grateful is there when the worst happens. It runs on donations, not government money, so it only keeps flying if people like us pitch in."
"Every pound goes straight to the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, around £4,000 keeps one life-saving mission in the air. If our aching shoulders raised a few of those, it was worth it."
"You can still donate at helipadtohospital.com. Every pound, and every share, genuinely helps."
"We're a Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire lot who did something a bit daft for a local cause that saves local lives. The waves, cheers and biscuits from strangers along the route kept us going."
"In 2024 we rode from Nottingham to Skegness and back in memory of Matt's dad, Barry Oak, to raise money for the Bostonian Ward, a palliative care department at the Pilgrim Hospital. This year we swapped the bikes for boots and a stretcher, in memory of our grandmother, Alice, 'Mamma'. She always supported the air ambulance because she knew how much it matters to have expert help arrive fast. Carrying a stretcher the 44 miles from the air ambulance's base at RAF Waddington to Queen's Medical Centre, in 15 hours and 47 minutes, was our way of keeping her support going, and, we hope, helping the crews reach a few more people who need them."
Everything (route, photos, videos, JustGiving) is at helipadtohospital.com.
Free to use with credit to Four Blokes on Hikes. Click a photo to download the hi-res version.
Broadcast coverage of the challenge, free to link to or reference.
