Former para finds love and becomes dad on walking tour of UK

A former paratrooper who set out to walk the entire coastline of the UK to raise money for charity has found love and become a father in the process.

Chris Lewis left Wales in 2016 and is currently in Studland, Dorset, where he and his partner Kate Barron have been spending time with their son Magnus and dog Jet.

So far they have raised £300,000 for the armed forces charity the SSAFA.

By the end of the walk they hope to reach the half a million pound mark.

The 41-year-old set out on his own when he embarked on the solo mission: "I just knew that I needed to make a change, life just wasn't good for me.

"You know I was the same as everybody else, I had a home, I had things and I made that decision just to strip that all away from my life and just take a chance.

"It was a huge gamble."

A stray dog was his first acquisition and Jet now rarely leaves his side.

"Having that company, she's just everything to me, she's been pivotal in helping me," he said.

But then he met his now-partner who was to become the mother of his son.

"I'd just finished Shetlands and it was my time to return back to mainland Scotland and this beautiful woman walks down the cliffs where I was camped," he added.

Now the four of them are continuing on the walk of the coastline, they hope to reach the finish line in the next five months and raise half a million pounds for the charity.

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