SPECIAL ATHLETE WALKS 322KM BACKWARDS FOR CHARITY

SANDAKAN (Malaysia), Sept 28 (Bernama) -- Edward Taning is midway doing his bit for charity.

It is a mission which comes with pain, blisters and the scorhing heat of the omnipresent sun

The 48-year-old special athlete is raising RM500,000 (US$143,760) for the
Seri
Mengasih Centre, a home for special children based in Kota Kinabalu (capital
city of east Malaysia Sabah state).

Recovering from paralysis which causes him to limp when he walks, the
remarkable Edward is walking backwards for a distance of 322km from Sandakan to
Kota Kinabalu -- all in the name of charity.

Already, he has painful blisters to show on his feet, having backward-walked
for 54km, since he began his charity project in the scorching heat on Sunday.

Edward's assistant, Misson Madamin, said on the first day, the athelete had
walked backwards for 24km, followed by 20km Sunday.

He said the walk would start from 4.30am daily, with Edward targeting
between 20km and 30km by 5.30pm.

"The challenges that Edward must face are the blistering heat and feet but
none of them deters him from continuing his mission for charity," he told
Bernama when met at the 43km stretch of Jalan Sandakan-Kota Kinabalu today.

Edward is expected to take 15 days to complete the mission. This includes
15 stops in each district he travels through and if he succeeds, his name would
go into the Malaysia Book of Records.

Misson thanked the police who accompanied them throughout the mission to
ensure smooth traffic flow at the routes taken.

He said Edward's health and stamina were tops, and was confident that the
man would complete the charity project on schedule.

-- BERNAMA