AN ambulance technician is set to walk the Great Wall of China after shedding two stone and quitting smoking in the last year.

Clair Slater, an emergency medical technician based at Burnley ambulance station, signed up for the challenge after seeing a poster at work.

The 36-year-old said she had always wanted to walk along the wall, which stretches more than 5,000 miles, but was never in the right physical condition.

Now, after losing weight and giving up smoking, she is set to jet out to the Orient tomorrow.

She will spend eight hours a day, for six days, walking in a group of 27 people.

Clair, of Oswaldtwistle, said: “I’ve been going out for walks, taking my mum and dad’s dogs, in preparation.

I’m a bit nervous to be honest, but excited as well. I’ve met a few of the people in the group, but I don’t really know them, so it will be nice to make new friends.”

All the money she raises will be donated to the North West Air Ambulance, a charity she knows all about.

She said: “We do call for the air ambulance on jobs and I don’t think they always get the recognition they deserve.”

Between walking sessions, Clair and the group will sleep in a lodge. “It’s a lot of walking, so I hope my shoes will be comfortable enough,” she said.

To sponsor Clair go to www.justgiving.com/user/23763652

A long stretch

  • The wall is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by nomadic groups.
  • It stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia.
  • A comprehensive archaeological survey has concluded that the entire wall stretches for 5,500.3miles, and is made up of sections of actual wall, trenches, hills and rivers.
  • It is often reported that the wall is visible from outer space, but NASA claims that it is only barely visible under nearly perfect conditions.