A Scottish veteran is currently in the process of walking around the entire UK coastline after "falling on hard times with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts".
Daniel McNeil, 26, sold all of his material belongings, gave up his home, and started his life-changing journey back in March 2021 on a mission to walk 16,000 miles.
The veteran, from Dumfries, met his now girlfriend Charlotte Brook along the way and the pair have spent the past year exploring Scotland and beyond.
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He is raising money for the veterans charity that "saved his life" when he became "addicted to drugs" upon leaving the army after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
After the charity helped "turn his life around", Daniel found himself jobless due to the Covid-19 lockdown. It was then that he became inspired by a past coastal walker Christian Nock to give up everything he owned and start the epic trek.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Daniel said: "I joined the Army in 2012 and got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease affecting my back, hip, and spine. I left the Army in 2017 and I fell on hard times.
"I got depressed, had anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I was addicted to drugs, I was doing cocaine, alcohol.
"SSAFA came in and gave me that bit of kindness that I needed at the time to kind of turn my life around and take responsibility for my life. From there I started going to the gym, looking after myself, having a really good diet.
"Then lockdown happened, Covid happened and I just wanted to do something really positive. Something to inspire some people because it was a really negative traumatic time for everyone."
Two months into the walk, in Dunoon on the West Coast of Scotland, Daniel met his girlfriend Charlotte, a young woman from Yorkshire. After an afternoon led to spending four days together, Charlotte joined Dan on three of the Scottish islands in summer 2021.
In the following months, Charlotte decided to leave her job and join Daniel on his epic trek. She said: "I never thought I'd do anything like this in my life.
"And I wouldn't have even classed myself as a walker or a hiker before doing it. But it's probably been the best thing I've ever done in my life.
"It was tough to get into it on the physical side. But yeah, a year later I've got this far and I'm gonna just do the whole thing."
While Daniel is fundraising for Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), Charlotte is raising money for Women's Aid. The charity is a "grassroots federation working together to provide life-saving services" that aims to "build a future where domestic abuse is not tolerated".
Speaking about her motivation, she said: "I know quite a lot of people who have been abused by abusers, and I've also been abused myself. And I just think it's a topic that needs to be spoken about more.
"It's a hush hush topic, and no one really wants to speak about it. So I think that's basically why I'm doing it."
Since setting off, Daniel has completed all the inner and outer Hebrides. After being joined by Charlotte, they have journeyed through Orkney, Shetland, Perth, Stirling, and are currently in Edinburgh as they prepare to cross the border into England.
Speaking about how the adventure so far has compared with his expectations, Daniel said: "It's definitely surpassed them for sure. It's absolutely blown them out of the water.
"I had a very basic level of thinking towards most of the places in Scotland. But as soon as you go there and you experience the atmosphere, some of the places are so peaceful, no noise, and it's just very zen.
"There's just no thoughts coming into your mind and it's just pure beauty. It's very sacred, I think that's the best word for it.
"It's one of the best adventures I've ever done. But not just because of the scenery, more because of the people.
"Like everyone's just been absolutely, unbelievably kind to us. For example, a lot of people will give us hot meals and places to stay.
"The perception of the media is that it's a bad world out there. But it's definitely restored my faith in humanity.
"It's been wonderful and Scotland is probably the best example of what the world should be like for kindness."
More information can be found on Daniel's and Charlotte's fundraising pages.
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