Ripon gave Chris Brannigan the barefoot soldier a warm send-off today as he reached his fundraising target of £400,000.

The soldier set off on July 6 on his 700-mile journey from Land’s End to Edinburgh. He is raising money for ‘Hope for Hasti.’

https://www.facebook.com/HopeforHasti/posts/186900629523350

Hasti, Chris’s daughter, is eight-years-old and has a rare genetic condition that currently has no treatment or cure. Chris is walking barefoot because he wants to change her fate and “give her the future she deserves”.

The money the Hope for Hasti campaign has raised will fund research and development for gene therapy for Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS).

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On his arrival in Ripon, people lined the streets to cheer him on and had even baked him some cakes. Major Brannigan told the Stray Ferret:

“I have just arrived here in beautiful Ripon. I had an absolutely incredible reception from the people that live here. The time I have had in Yorkshire has been incredible, I have had so much help.

“If I am honest, today has been a really difficult day but people came to my aid.”

Now that Major Brannigan has reached his £400,000 target he has said that any extra money on top will go towards clinical trials for treatment.

Major Brannigan with military personnel based at Claro Barracks, Ripon, and Dishforth Military Wives Choir, who handed over a cheque for £350.