https://youtu.be/jldOzLi4HG8?si=pLI2aMq5lPxxtx5I

#WalkAMileInMyShoes : On 15th April 2025 - exactly 1 year to the day that my wife Wanda died of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia - I'll start walking the 280km (approximately 174 miles) of the Portuguese Camino, hoping to arrive in Santiago de Compostela in Spain on the 1st of May.

Prior to being diagnosed with AML, Wanda had already made extensive plans for us to walk that Camino together this Spring. I'll be following, where possible, the same detailed route she mapped out.

Having suffered from Crohn's Disease since her very early teens - I first met her in hospital over Christmas 1983 when she was only 20 (& being fed intravenously) - Wanda's health had improved following an operation a few years ago; finally allowing us to travel abroad and make plans for a retirement which, sadly, she never reached (She died shortly after her 61st birthday). Before falling ill with AML, Wanda had planned a route which combined the Coastal and Central Portuguese Camino routes. I'll be sticking as close as possible to her planned footsteps/instructions - including a day on the beaches north of Porto before the serious walking starts - and I'll be carrying one of her shoes* with me.

*The "theme" of my post-funeral eulogy was "Walk A Mile in My Shoes". In that, it would be very difficult to understand her life unless you lived it, and not many people appreciated just how tough a shift she put in; not only suffering from Crohn's disease for >4 decades, but raising 2 busy children without any real support: no grandmothers or aunts, or anyone else nearby she could call on for babysitting help. Considering how tough a life she had, she did an amazing job! I'll therefore be following that theme by taking one of Wanda's shoes with me - she was very fond of her Converse All Stars - so part of her will be with me in spirit, on a journey that fate never allowed her to complete. This was a promise I made at her funeral.

Despite her Crohn's disease, Wanda was one of those people who could put her hand to anything and do it well - Upholstery, cooking, gardening, baking, you name it! In 2022, during Covid, she got into sewing and many of the items in the featured video above - including dresses, hats & handbags - she made herself. Friends and family, impressed by the creativity, skill and effort she put in, jokingly referred to her made-to-measure efforts as "Wanda Fashion”. Her bravery when fighting AML, despite multiple setbacks, was also exceptional: From first being officially diagnosed with AML on New Year's Eve 2023, her life expectancy changed from years (following full remission in January 2024 after her 1st chemo cycle) to a possible full cure after signing up for donor stem cell therapy, to months, then weeks, then days. Throughout that period she vowed to "give it her best shot" but, sadly, fighting AML was one task and one battle she could not win.

In passing, let me clarify that, although I've lived in the Netherlands for many years, I'm a proud Glaswegian and my online presence is largely U.K-centric. Wanda herself was Dutch, of Polish & Limburg extraction. Our 2 grown-up children - one of whom's a doctor who, until recently, worked in the Netherlands Cancer Institute hospital in Amsterdam & helped provide end of life care to her mother in our home - both live here in Holland. However, all of our other wider family live in Scotland.

For that reason, the possibility that a local specialised cancer hospital in Glasgow will benefit from this - my cousin Elaine recently retired from the Beatson and I know of the amazing work they do - plus the fact money raised will be used to fund future research into AML seems a fitting way to honour Wanda's memory.

On behalf of myself and our children Elena and Ryan , I would like to thank every single one of you for supporting the goal of walking in Wanda's invisible footprints on the Portuguese Camino. Even if you can only spare a very small amount, and/or forward the link to friends & family, or share it on your social media platforms, rest assured every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated!

John, Elena & Ryan McDonnell

Wanda & Elena (1994)

Wanda & Ryan (1996)

THANKS / BEDANKT!