Updated on
A Royal Navy veteran, who lives in Somerset, has persuaded her daughter to join her on a 27km hike to raise funds to support our former servicemen and women.
Maria Vaughan, age 56 and from Templecombe and her daughter Jill haven't taken part in a hiking challenge before, but they are aiming to complete the route along the Jurassic coast on August 15, in support of Help for Heroes.
Maria Vaughan served in the Navy for 23 years, as an aero-engineer, working on helicopters and Harrier jets. Her fiancé Lt Commander Martin London, known as Jack London to his colleagues, was killed in a freak accident at the age of 43 in December 2002. He was training another pilot in a Sea Harrier jet, which suffered engine failure. He left behind Maria to bring up their daughter Jill, who was six years old at the time.
Maria, who had always wanted to be an engineer, had first-class support from Royal Navy colleagues and from her family following on from Jack's death. That support, coupled with inner strength and determination, meant she was able to continue with her career until 2011. She explained, "After Jack's death, I realised how important sport and physical fitness was to me – going to the gym, running and playing five-a-side football helped me to deal with the emotional stress.
"I'm still fairly active now, but I wanted to do something to push myself. I'd been talking about signing up for one of the Heroes Hikes for a long time, but it was a push from my mum that got me to complete the form."
The series of seven Heroes Hikes started in April this year, with three more to go, including the Jurassic Coast on 15 August, Dartmoor on 12 September and the Lincolnshire Wolds on 26 September.
I'm looking forward to talking to some like-minded people."
Royal Navy Veteran
Maria added, "I'm excited and nervous at the same time, and I'm looking forward to talking to some like-minded people.
"I've met some inspirational people who have been able to achieve their goals thanks to Help for Heroes, and Jill and I want to help the Charity continue with its work. I'm hoping the hike will motivate me to take part in similar events."
If you would like to support Maria in her challenge go to Maria Vaughan's Heroes Hike Challenge