1 Aug 2022
Jo Malone, along with members of her family and team, joined John Gibson and his wife Isobel for a leg of their 1,200-mile walk to raise awareness and funds to help prevent suicides in the veterinary sector.
James Westgate
Job Title
From left: VetPartners chief executive Jo Malone, Isobel and John Gibson, and VetPartners operations director Tim Shearman.
The chief executive of one of Europe’s largest veterinary groups has joined the parents of a Scottish vet who died by suicide on a leg of their epic 1,200-mile walk to raise money and awareness to try to prevent more tragedies.
John Gibson and his wife Isobel are walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise £250,000 for The Canmore Trust, a charity set up in memory of their 24-year-old son Cameron, a farm vet at Clyde Veterinary Group in Lanarkshire, who died in October 2019.
The pair were joined by VetPartners’ Jo Malone for a 15-mile section from Bellingham to Byrness in Northumberland.
Mrs Malone – who was joined by members of her own family, and VetPartners operations director and fellow vet Tim Shearman – described the experience as a “huge honour”.
The aim of the walk, called #onemanwalkingamilliontalking, is to try to prevent more suicides and support those affected when someone dies by suicide.
VetPartners, the veterinary group Clyde Vets is a part of, has donated £10,000 to the fund-raising.
Prof Gibson is 40 days into his walk, which will take about two-and-a-half months, averaging 20-plus miles a day. He is expected to complete the journey in August.
Mrs Malone said: “As a mother, I can’t even begin to imagine what John and his wife Isobel have been through, and seeing for myself what they are doing in Cameron’s memory is truly inspirational.
“It was a huge honour to walk with them and support their campaign to encourage more young people to open up and have conversations about suicide, and bring it into the light.”
A JustGiving page has been set up for donations.
