Botham to walk 850 miles for leukaemia

During the month-long walk, Botham will be joined by several other celebrities like singer Elton John, cricketers Viv Richards, Mike Gatting and David Gower at different stages.

Botham, who relishes curry and tandoori dishes, has asked the Indus Restaurant in Doncaster, South Yorks, for 400 onion bhajis and samosas each, 200 tandoori chicken, 250 lamb tikkas, 160 nans and 150 king prawns, proprietor of the Restaurant Nayeemdin told PTI today.

Lauding the efforts of Botham to raise funds, particularly to treat leukaemia-afflicted children, Nayeem said the restaurant would supply the popularAsian dishes free of charge.

“It is for a good cause and we have decided to make our own contribution to the cause in this way,” he said.

The eatables would be packed and supplied, he added.

While Botham will lead the walk, his parents, wife and over a dozen volunteers will accompany him, some of them on motorcycles collecting donations from the public.

Nayeem, who is a close friend of Botham, said the cricketer had undertaken similar charity work at least thrice in the past.

On an average, Botham will walk for about 25 to 30 miles daily.

The idea of raising funds for fighting the dreaded disease struck Botham 15 years ago when he had gone to a London Hospital for a minor operation.

It was during his stay in hospital, he came across some children playing in the complex and he also joined them in a game of football.

When he learnt from doctors that the children were afflicted by leukaemia and are not likely to live beyond a couple of years, Botham decided that he would strive to raise fundsfor curbing the disease.