'Pilgrimage with my disabled daughter was freeing'

The Richardson family raised money for The Daisy Garland, a charity supporting people with epilepsy and their families

A Devon mother-of-three has walked the last leg of a renowned pilgrimage route in Spain with her family and disabled daughter to raise money for charity.

Lucy Richardson, from Chudleigh, near Exeter, and her family completed the trek to Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain, with their daughter Bessie - who has a learning disability, autism and drug-resistant epilepsy.

Mrs Richardson said the 10-mile (16km) walk was "so freeing", despite having to push Bessie in her buggy in the heat, as she had three seizures earlier in the holiday.

The journey was made more "special" by offers from strangers to push Bessie's buggy uphill, she said.

Mrs Richardson said she and her husband had already decided to do something "a little bit adventurous" with the children during the summer holidays.

She said she had lost "quite a bit of confidence" herself after a hip replacement in February, as well as being sleep-deprived as a carer.

Then she received an email asking people to do a sponsored walk for epilepsy charity The Daisy Garland, which had previously helped Bessie.

"So we just thought, let's set ourselves a challenge - celebrate getting through another year," she said.

While the walk could be anywhere, the family chose the pilgrimage route for theirs.

The pilgrimage ends at Santiago de Compostela's cathedral in Spain

The pilgrimage follows a series of routes across Europe which lead to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in north west Spain, which is said to hold the body of Saint James, one of Jesus' 12 apostles.

Mrs Richardson said she had visited northern Spain when Bessie was about six months old and thought "maybe we could do [the pilgrimage] one day".

They were originally planning to do a longer stretch of the walk over three days, but had to limit their ambitions as Bessie had three seizures earlier in the holiday, Mrs Richardson said.

She added: "It was really beautiful countryside and we were just walking for four hours."

Bessie's autism meant she enjoyed being in nature, the mother-of-three said.

"Bessie's non-verbal, she can't sit and read a book or do colouring in, so she gets really stimulated by being in beautiful places... seeing animals, wildlife, being in water."

Bessie gets stimulated by seeing "beautiful places", animals and wildlife

'X-ray for the human heart'

Mrs Richardson said Bessie was "so affectionate and she's so switched on about some things".

Looking after her was "obviously a privilege", she said, adding "it's completely changed our outlook, as a family we're all very tight."

Mrs Richardson said her older daughter described Bessie as "like an X-ray for the human heart", because within a few seconds of meeting her, people would "completely reveal what they are like on the inside".

Mrs Richardson said Bessie signed using Makaton but "thinks a bit different", which could lead things to feel like they were happening in a "parallel universe".

"Quite often she'll be saying something to you and you think it's a request [for food or something]," she said, only to later realise "she was just trying to chat to me about what happened last weekend".

She said there were times she and her husband would think: "God, she's so intelligent and we're completely missing it... you feel really frustrated with yourself."

Mrs Richardson said the experience had led her to help set up a local Makaton choir, which now had about 20 members.

Lucy Richardson said she enjoyed the camaraderie with other people walking the pilgrimage

Mrs Richardson said she was inspired after listening to an episode of the BBC Radio 4 show Ramblings, where a woman pushed her 80-year-old mother in a wheelchair along part of the pilgrimage route.

On one occasion three people pushed Bessie - who weighs about 70kg (11 stone) - up a hill, while another time a man and woman took Mrs Richardson and her husband's backpacks to make it easier for them.

Mrs Richardson said she found herself wondering if they had got lost at times, but would then see a "little seashell" - the symbol of Saint James - which let her know they were on the right path.

Whenever they passed fellow walkers, people would smile and say "buen camino", she said.

Mrs Richardson said: "Then as we got into the suburbs of Santiago, there was this old Spanish guy who was shaking my hand - and Florence's and Frank's - which was really sweet.

"I just found that really lovely and it just kind of made me think a little bit of what our lives are like."