// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Great-grandad with cancer risks his health to help others on 460-mile journey
John Eryl Parry is walking over 460 miles to fundraise for four charities supporting people living with cancer
A great-grandfather with bladder and kidney cancer is walking 462 miles (743km) for charity, despite knowing it could impact his own treatment.
John Eryl Parry, 78, from Pontypool, Torfaen, began his coast-to-coast journey at the UK's most easterly point in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on 21 June, and is due to reach St David's Head in Pembrokeshire on 11 August.
He was diagnosed with cancer after he fell off a ladder and was taken to hospital.
John admitted he hadn't told his oncology team about his challenge, but said he was warned by a doctor that his body would "change" during it, and it could impact his treatment plan.
John has made friends along the route with people who have joined his challenge after seeing his videos on social media
John, who now lives in Tendring, Essex, has captured the hearts of tens of thousands of Instagram, TikTok and Facebook followers around the world where he goes under the name Welsh Grandad.
He became a social media sensation after being encouraged by his granddaughter to share his story online, and signs off his daily videos by reminding people to "be kind to one another" and to take on daily struggles "one step at a time... with love from grandad".
"I keep telling everybody I'm the luckiest person in the world," John said of his diagnosis, which was discovered after he fell off a ladder at home and suffered fractures to his skull, bleeds on his brain, and broken bones in his neck, back, face and hands.
From there, he was diagnosed with high-grade bladder cancer and cancer in his right kidney.