Perth Black Watch soldier with life-limiting condition to take on 54-mile charity trek
dailyrecord.co.ukA Perth Black Watch soldier with a life-limiting condition is preparing to trek 54 miles to raise funds for other soldiers, veterans and their families.As part of his ‘bucket list’, Lance Corporal (LCpl) Shaun McKenna will once again take part in ABF The Soldiers’ Charity’s Cateran Yomp.The gruelling event challenges teams of soldiers, veterans and civilians to walk 22, 36 or 54 miles across the rugged terrain of the Perthshire countryside in less than 24 hours.Participants will head off on the Cateran Trail in the foothills of the Cairngorm Mountains at 6am on Saturday, June 3, returning to Blairgowrie in the early hours of Sunday, June 4.Last year’s event raised just over £500,000 for soldiers, veterans and their families, with 630 participants travelling from as far as the U.S, Canada, Australia, Cyprus, Poland and the Netherlands.Thirty-two-year-old LCpl McKenna, who suffers from Huntington’s Disease, joined The Black Watch at the age of 17 and was deployed to Operations Herrick 10 and 15, the final phase of the UK’s combat operations in Afghanistan.
Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002.He was also deployed to Cyprus on Operation TOSCA, the second-largest deployment of British Army personnel overseas, serving with United Nations peacekeeping Forces.
LCpl McKenna is currently assigned to Scotland and Northern Ireland Personnel Recovery Centre (Edinburgh Company) (S&NI PRU) on Recovery Duty.His role within 3 SCOTS prior to being assigned to S&NI PRU was within the Pipes and Drums Platoon as a physical training instructor.LCpl McKenna, who grew up on the Isle of Skye, Fort William and Perth, said: “When I first fell ill, I was forgetting parades
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