Ashley Cain finishes 3,000 mile charity challenge

Ashley Cain said he had raised almost £200,000 for The Azaylia Foundation

Former footballer Ashley Cain has completed a mammoth physical challenge and raised almost £200,000 in memory of his baby daughter.

In less than three months he has travelled between Land's End and John O' Groats three times - running, kayaking and cycling more than 3,000 miles.

Cain took on his own Ultraman challenge to raise funds for research into childhood cancer and charity The Azaylia Foundation.

His journey began on April 24, on the three year anniversary of his eight-month-old daughter Azaylia's death from a rare form of leukaemia.

Cain, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, embarked on a 900-mile run, a 925-mile cycle and a 950-mile kayak sea crossing as part of the ultra triathlon.

In a post on Instagram on Saturday, he said he had raised £196,042 for the Azaylia Foundation, which was set up in memory of his late daughter.

Ashley Cain's eight-month-old daughter Azaylia died from a rare form of leukaemia in 2021

Posting a video of his speech as he finished kayaking in Scotland, the former reality star said that his daughter had taught him that "even through your darkest moments, you can create someone else's brighter days."

"Three years ago I lost the most beautiful, the most special, and the most incredible person in my life," Cain said of his daughter.

"The only way I've known how to live my life in the last three years is to do what I think is right, led by my heart," he added.

"All I've had to do is to look up to the sky every time things got hard and realise that she's looking down on me."

The former Coventry City footballer has previously taken part in many extreme fitness challenges in his daughter's name, including several other marathons.

Cain described how he had the "very unfortunate thing" to write his daughter's eulogy, which was "probably the most difficult thing you will ever have to do as a parent."

"But in that eulogy, I vowed to take her around the world with nothing but daddy power," he said.

"To the top of every mountain, to the bottom of every valley, along every road and across every ocean."