Lake District hike in memory of Jason Morland
Friends and family of Jason Morland say Jason had a heart of gold. Their hike around the Lake District was in his memory.
To mark the anniversary of Jason Morland’s death, 17 of his friends and family came together to hike 17.5km around the Lake District raising an incredible £14,000.
Jason died of SUDEP in September 2024, aged 52. He had only been formally diagnosed with epilepsy twelve months prior.
All of Jason’s family on the walk had the same surname Morland. Philip Belger, a lifelong friend, says Jason had a heart of gold. “He just found the time to give everyone else a bit of time, which is a special thing in itself.”
Jason’s children, Conor and Halle, were his number one priority. Having grown up in Walton Vale, Jason was also a lifetime Liverpool FC fan and loved amateur football. Jason’s friends and members of the Morland family took on the walking challenge, calling themselves the Walton Vale Reds & Co. The group included best friend Philip who led the hike as well as Jason’s son Conor, his brother Peter and nephew Elliot. The walk took over seven hours to complete with many of the party never having hiked before. Philip said: “It was low cloud. You couldn’t even see where you were getting to, so we didn’t get a look at the walk until the second half. Then the clouds lifted, and you got a sense of what you’d done.”
Some of Jason’s friends had completed a similar walk just weeks after his death. Philip said: “It was a great experience because when you’re walking obviously there’s a lot of stories shared about Jason and the stories go a bit deeper and you have a laugh about them. There was a great sense of achievement but at the end of the day, we were all there for only one reason.”
At the end of the hike, the walkers were met by Jason’s family including his sister Samantha and twin sister Rosalind, which meant a lot to the group.
Philip said: “You could see the enjoyment in their faces of what we’d done. It’s nice that we could do something for the family to show that we still care about Jason, that we care for them and that we’re here for them.”
Philip noted that doing such a challenge was important for raising awareness of SUDEP and epilepsy risks. “For us, it’s about people knowing what happened to Jason and why he passed away and what SUDEP Action has to offer. It’s about getting the word out as much as anything.”
When asked if he would recommend others to organise a similar challenge event, Philip said: “A million per cent. You’ve got to do it because it’s the self-achievement of doing something good for others – but to achieve it as a group of friends made it even more special to us, doing it in the memory of someone who was so close to us. And I know he’d be looking down on us amazed that we’d done it.
“On behalf of all the hikers that took part, we’d like to thank everyone for their support in sponsoring us and spreading the word about Epilepsy /SUDEP . It really was appreciated and meant a lot to us.”
