Michael Scaife tragically drowned in the Jubilee River in Datchet, Berkshire, in August last year when trying to rescue one of his friends who had jumped in. He was just 20-years-old.

Since his son’s death, Michael’s father, Mark, successfully campaigned to have a footbridge across the Jubilee River named after his son as a tribute and a reminder to others of the dangers the river could pose. A petition in support of the plan has attracted more than 1,500 signatures in less than a week and RLSS UK supported Mark in his campaign.

And Mark has now just successfully completed the Thames Path Challenge, raising over £2,500 for RLSS UK so far. The event, which took place on September 10 and 11, saw challengers take on and amazing 100km trek from Putney Bridge to Henley.

RLSS UK would like to thank Mark for raising such an astounding amount to for the charity and his commitment to drowning prevention in light of experiencing such a devastating loss. He is a real RLSS UK champion.

Here’s Mark’s account of his challenge:

“I successfully finished the challenge in 21hrs 42mins 59secs at 5.42am on the Sunday morning after starting in London at 8am on the Saturday. It was an incredibly tough journey. Much harder than I imagined. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with a slipped disc five days before the event, so that wasn’t great news to be going into the challenge with, but at least explained my 10 months of back pain! I had calf strain after 32km, huge blisters at 38km, at which point I honestly thought I was in trouble.

“The blister pain had thankfully eased by time I reached the 50k halfway point and I decided to leave them be. Shin splints pain kicked in at around 72km! Most of the first 50km was wet, the second 50km dark and with very thick fog, but I carried on. Three-and-half days on, I’m still unable to walk due to soft tissue/ligament damage in my left foot, and I am currently at home with my foot elevated. It’s not called a challenge for no reason I guess, the words on the medal are so true!

“The sponsorship total is currently at £2,505, with a little more still to come in. That in itself makes all the above absolutely worth it.”