FAMILY, friends and colleagues of Northwood soldier Tom Lake, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011, took part in a ‘superhuman’ march across London in his memory.
Members of Tom’s platoon – the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment – were among those who tackled the 20-mile route. The soldiers wore backpacks weighing up to 60lbs.
Tom’s mother Carol also took part, as did a soldier who was with Tom when he died and the mother and sister of another who was injured in the same blast.
The march has so far raised more than £1,200 for armed forces charity Help for Heroes.
It was organised by Tom’s friends Jim Kearns and Mo Ahmed, who run a fitness group called Army Boot Camp.
The route, which took six hours to complete, started at Tower Bridge, and crossed all of the capital’s bridges, finishing at the Tower of London.
It also included a chance meeting with former prime minister Baroness Thatcher who Holly Kearns, wife of organiser Jim, said was ‘rightly incensed’ about Tom’s death.
Mrs Kearns added: “It was a superhuman effort.”
Private Lake, 29, was caught up in an explosion while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of central Helmand on November 20. He was airlifted to a field hospital but later died of his wounds.
He joined the Army in 2009 and had already gained skills as a medic and assault pioneer and was training to be a sniper.
? To donate in Tom’s memory log onto www.justgiving.com/Mo-Ahmed.
