Firefighter proposes to girlfriend after gruelling 190 mile charity fundraiser

Completing a 190 charity walk in under five days is quite the achievement, but a Lancashire Fire and Rescue firefighter recently managed to top that by proposing to his unsuspecting girlfriend at the finish line. 

Accompanied by four friends, Joey Hawke, from Rawtenstall, took on the challenging fundraiser last month, trekking from St. Bees in Cumbria all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay in the North Yorkshire Moors – all while kitted out in full fire kit.

Speaking to Proper Manchester, Joey detailed the inspiration behind the charity walk, saying: “I got speaking to a mate who’s joined the royal navy – he wanted to raise some money for Royal Navy and Royal Marines charities so obviously as a firefighter, I wanted to join in and raise some money for the fire fighters charity.

Joey Hawke / Facebook

“I came up with the idea of doing the coast to coast walk, and I wanted to complete it in seven days. But my friend Duncan, who I did the walk with, suggested we do it in five days to give ourselves a bit of a challenge.”

Amazingly, after averaging around thirty-eight miles per day, the group managed to complete the walk in just under five days – four days, thirteen hours, and fifty-five minutes, to be precise – but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Joey explained that he developed some ‘agonising’ blisters on his right foot which were only made worse by the wet and boggy conditions of the Yorkshire moors.

“By the end of Thursday, my leg started swelling up. My right leg was twice the size of my left leg – a doctor has since said I was at risk of getting sepsis – but I knew we only had one day left, so I literally dragged myself to the finish line on Friday.”

Chalkie Bolton Photography

But Joey’s journey didn’t end at the finish line – as he arrived in Robin Hood’s Bay, he dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend of five years, Emily Harrison, who was waiting for him with his friends and family.

Though this wasn’t the proposal Joey had envisioned – he had actually wanted to pop the question last year while on holiday in Florida but, thanks to the Covid pandemic, his plans were foiled.

He explained: “I’d thought of proposing at the finish line a couple of months before the walk – we were meant to go to Florida last year and I wanted to do it there. But because of Covid our flights got cancelled and it was the same again at the beginning of this year.

“I realised it wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, so I thought, why not do it on the walk? I knew she’d be waiting for me at the end, and she wasn’t expecting it.”

Chalkie Bolton Photography

Well, this revised plan couldn’t have gone better.

Two of his friends had made a huge banner which bore the message: “Emily Rose, will you marry me?!” and, as she turned around in confusion, Joey awaited on one knee – it was a yes, of course.

Joey’s fundraiser has raised just short of £4,000 – you can visit the GoFundMe page here.