A GRANTOWN man is going to trek through the mountains of three countries to thank the charity that helped him bounce back from his battle with cancer.
Mr Bill Quirie is walking the 106 miles of the TMB - Tour Mont Blanc - this summer to raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity whose nurses cared for him so well when he was ill.
It will be a real challenge for Mr Quirie, who will have to scale the equivalent of 31,000ft during the 12-day trip on the classic Alpine route, taking in France, Switzerland and Italy. The walk starts on July 11.
He said: "The TMB is regarded as one of the great walks of the world, and includes metal ladders on a 50m cliff face by Argentiere, and a one metre wide downward sloping path by Les Grands with a spectacular drop into the Chamonix valley.
"This part you have to cover by holding on to a rope with your right hand, hoping against hope that you don't meet anyone coming the other way!
"During the walk, I will be staying in various manned mountain refuge huts where you receive a hot meal at a set time in the evening, breakfast in the morning, all for a cost of some 35 euros a night."
He joked: "It allows you the pleasure of sleeping in a dormitory full of some 20 to 100 people depending on the location - such joy."
Mr Quirie has said that all the effort will be worthwhile because the charity was superb when it came to helping him in his 15-month fight with bowel cancer.
"Macmillan were simply fantastic. Because of that I wanted to do a special walk for them," he said. "In all, you go up a height of 31,000 feet in seven valleys in Mont Blanc.
"You come down a similar amount, but it's based over 12 days so it's going to be a fairly hectic and fairly strenuous walk I would think.
"It's a challenging one and there are some spectacular drops on some of the walks, so I'm really looking forward to it.
"I just wanted to do something special for them because Macmillan were fantastic to me and they do a great job.
"I had no idea what they did previously. Like many, I had seen their advertising before but never really thought about it.
"However, having gone through what I have and knowing what they do to support people - they are my charity now and I would do anything for them."
He praised the nursing care in the MacMillan suite at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Mr Quirie said: "The nurses are just fantastic: they are so good, so caring, nothing is a problem and you know they're there for you all the time, so this is just a thank you to them."
Mr Quirie was diagnosed in October 2009 with the disease after complaining of being unwell for a few weeks with stomach pain.
He said: "I kept taking the usual painkillers but it never went away."
It was Grantown GP Dr Lesley Pirie whom he saw and she sent him to Raigmore Hospital for an appointment the next day. A short time later, Mr Quirie underwent two major operations to remove the tumour and then had to undetake chemotherapy to blast the cells that had spread.
He was still awaiting the outcome of his latest tests as he spoke to the "Strathy" but said: "I'm feeling great. I've put on weight and I'm feeling fine."
As well as the Macmillan charity, he was full of praise for the team at Grantown Health Centre for their support during what had been tough times.
In addition to the gruelling walk, Mr Quirie, is to hold his very own quiz night and raffle on April 29 starting at 7.30pm at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort, where he works as one of the resort's two night managers.
He said: "I've done a lot of quizzes in the past but I've only been quiz master. I've never run my own quiz. It has been pointed out that some of questions are rather harder, so I will be making them a lot simpler.
"It's Royal Wedding Day, so if people are fed up of watching that they can come along and enjoy themselves because it's for a good cause and all the money raised will go to Macmillan."
Donations can be made on-line at www.justgiving.com/Bill-Quirie for the TMB and again all money raised will go to the charity. Tickets for the quiz are available by contacting Mr Quirie at bquirie@btopenworld.com.
