A GRIEVING family have completed a 59 mile walk in memory of a loved one who suffered with autism and a decade ago and ended his life.

Mike Blakeney, 75, and his son John began a walk from Amberley, West Sussex, to Eastbourne 20 years ago but due to problems along the way were unable to complete the walk.

Then in 2006 John, who suffered with Asperger Syndrome, tragically took his own life leaving the family devastated.

But earlier this month Mike and grandson Tom Smith, 17, came together to ‘Finish the Walk for John’ and help to raise awareness of autism in adults and the difficulty of dealing with suicide.

They were joined by Tom’s mum Sue, 46, his brother Joe, 15, and Mike’s wife Angela, 72, but only Tom and Mike walked the full 59 miles from Amberley to Eastbourne.

Sue’s husband Gary also went along to provide extra support.

Sue, a speech and language therapist from Wanborough, said: “It has given our whole family a sense of huge peace to support Mike and Tom in their epic walk. I work every day with people with autism who are seeking a diagnosis and know how much of a struggle this can be. I was really proud of them both. Tom is not at all sporty and my father is nearly 76, so it was a big deal.

“A couple of years ago Tom had talked to my dad about the opportunity to do something together and with the anniversary of John’s death coming up we thought it was the perfect time.

“At first, we wondered whether it would be the right thing to do, whether it would be too emotional or too difficult. But we saw it as an opportunity to talk about suicide and autism and maybe reach out to other people who have been through the same things that we have.

“John had autism but remained undiagnosed throughout his life. If he was now referred to a service he would easily get a diagnosis. The end of May was the tenth anniversary of John’s death and so we all thought it was the right time to finish the walk.”

The walk took four days to complete and managed to raise around £1,000 for charity, which was shared between Discovering Autism Spectrum Happiness (DASH) and the National Autistic Society.

Mike said: “It went very well indeed. We had fair weather for the first two days but it got a bit wet on the third. It was a great family thing and everybody got involved. Tom was up early in the morning because we wanted to get most of the walk done early, especially on the warm days. He did so well, I am very proud of him. Because of the nature of how John died it helped to give us some form of closure.”

They were also joined by the family’s dogs – lurchers Fred, 5, and Luca, 2.