Corrie MND story inspires 14,000km wheelchair push

A plotline from Billy Whiston's "guilty pleasure" TV show put the wheels in motion for his epic journey Down Under.

In April 2024, a storyline involving Coronation Street character Paul Foreman living with motor neurone disease (MND) inspired Billy to raise money for MND charities by pushing a wheelchair around Australia's coast.

The full journey is more than 8,948 miles (14,400km), which Billy started on 3 March and expects will take a year to complete.

The 25-year-old, from Glossop in Derbyshire, says he loves watching the long-running soap with his mum.

In 2024, Billy said he knew he wanted to take on a challenge but was not sure what it would be.

Then, one night with his family, while Coronation Street was on the television in one room and rugby league in the other, a conversation at half-time gave him the inspiration he needed.

"At the time, Peter Ash was playing Paul who had MND in the show. My mum started talking about how good he was at acting it," Billy said.

In the show, Paul was diagnosed with MND and the storyline concluded with his death from the disease in September 2024.

"It got us talking about MND that evening. And because we were watching the rugby too, I said, 'that's what Rob Burrow had' - and my dad brought up Doddie Weir," Billy said.

"We were having this conversation about how terrible it was, and it was in that moment that I had this plan.

"I said, 'what if I push a wheelchair around Australia for MND?' So my mum said, 'do it then'."

Billy's journey started and will finish at the Sydney Opera House. He plans to walk 25 miles (40km) every day for a year in order to complete the coastline of Australia.

He walks during the day, while his girlfriend Lucy Carey drives their support van, which they sleep in overnight.

The whole way, Billy pushes a wheelchair, which he says is "to symbolise the cause I'm doing it for and to emphasise the difficulties that MND sufferers go through".

This is Billy's first time undertaking a challenge of this scale.

"I've not got any endurance background whatsoever," he said.

Billy said the early weeks of the challenge took a toll on his body.

"The blisters in the first few days were tough. I ended up with two broken toes just from breaking in my shoes," he said.

"Now, I only get pains in my legs at night, rather than during the walking itself.

"I cover myself in factor 50 every day, head to toe. I even managed to get burnt in overcast weather."

Billy says the toughest part is having no days off but he specifically chooses to walk every day to make it more of a challenge.

"People with MND would give anything to be able to walk to the end of the street, so if I can do this for them I will," he said. "I'm lucky to be able to do it."

The challenge is not just a physical one for Billy.

"Sometimes, when there's a lot of nothing stretched out in front of me, it's very mentally draining," he said.

"Some days all you see is straight road with nothing around.

"You can't understand it until you're here how much nothingness there is."

Billy says he feels lucky that he has Lucy with him in the evenings, not just for moral support.

"I am terrified of spiders," Billy said. "And I've come to the worst place in the world for them.

"If any spiders come in the van, Lucy will be in charge of getting rid of them."

MND is a terminal condition that affects people's ability to move, talk and breathe.

Six people are diagnosed with it in the UK every day, according to Brain Research UK.

Billy is raising money for four charities that fund research into MND and support those living with it: Motor Neurone Disease Association and the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation in the UK, and in Australia, FightMND and MND Australia.

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