"Aine is a Kiltwalker"

Today is the third time The Kiltwalk has come to Edinburgh so to our Kiltwalkers old and new, can we thank you for turning up, once again, in such numbers.

Kiltwalk Day is always a great day where the effort of our dedicated Kiltwalk Team results in a day to remember for all. For those taking part for the first time you’re about to experience the Kiltwalk phenomenon which is meeting people you’ve never met before, but will end up being friends with for a very long time. However if today, is your first Kiltwalk Day, then it’s a very special Kiltwalk Day.

You see, one such group of ‘friends’ is Team Aine, who earned their Kiltwalk spurs by taking part in what was our first Edinburgh event back in 2013. Back then Team Aine was little more than Leah and her family and friends who had set themselves a target of raising £500 for Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Friends Foundation.

It was somewhere between signing up and taking part that the “phenomenon” hit Team Aine as before they knew it, people they never knew were joining Team Aine making the team not only larger, but providing Team Aine with the scope and energy to fundraise more than they could ever have dreamt of.

Team Aine, which is now 40 plus strong has brought together people like Sam, Scott, Iain, Lori, David, Iwona, Keith, Niki, Leanne, Liam, Wilma, June, John, Allison, Ludo, Shaun, Kirsty and others that I apologise for not mentioning, who between them have raised £50,000 yes £50,000 in three short years.

So what was the inspiration behind all of this? Well in short it was the little pink dynamite we know as Aine, who continues to light up everyone’s life with that smile of hers. The original story, which is a must read to understand what drives them on can be read here https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2897824 Suffice to say Aine is a little girl with a very serious, life threatening condition, not that you’d know it to look at her.

Aine has Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS), which is a rare disorder of the central nervous system where the automatic control of breathing is absent or impaired. A CCHS patient's respiratory response to low oxygen levels or high CO2 is, sluggish when awake and absent to varying degrees during sleep or illness. All of this means Aine will require ventilation for the rest of her life, which is currently provided overnight by a facial mask.

So what is so special about today I hear you ask? Well for those of us lucky enough and proud enough to wear a Team Aine t-shirt, with our names on the back we only get a loan of Aine’s name and only when it’s preceded by the word “Team”. Because as you’ll see above, there’s only one person who gets “Aine” on her back and that’s that little ball of pink dynamite I told you about earlier and that is Aine.

What makes today a very big day, is that today is the day Aine becomes a fully-fledged Kiltwalker!! As Aine is taking part in the Edinburgh Wee Walk along with her siblings Finn 13, Ruari 11, Conal 9, and Erin 4. Not only is Aine taking part in the Wee Walk, Aine and her ‘team’ are heading up the start of the full Kiltwalk and along with the skirl of the pipes, will lead the walk out of Murrayfield Stadium.

Today is a day Leah and her family could only have dreamed of during the 12 month period Aine had to remain in hospital, so let’s all celebrate Aine and her team today and as you walk your 26, 13 or 6 miles today and the miles get harder, just remember you’re a Kiltwalker now and so is Oor Aine.

So let’s hear you all sing  . . . . “1, 2, 3, 4”


Well the Team is all pinked up and ready to go, they're ready to go now,
they got their t-shirts and they're going to Murrayfield.
But she just couldn't stay away, Aine had to take part today
Well the Edinburgh Kiltwalk really has is all oh yeah, oh yeah
 
Aine is a kiltwalker
Aine is a kiltwalker
Aine is a kiltwalker now
Aine is a kiltwalker
Aine is a kiltwalker
Aine is a kiltwalker now
Well she's a kilt kilt, a kiltwalker
Kilt kilt a kiltwalker
Kilt kilt a kiltwalker
Kilt kilt a kiltwalker
 
Have a great day and see you all at the finish line.