Former world middleweight champion Darren Barker set off from Edinburgh on Wednesday morning on a 1,800-mile endurance challenge to Morocco in memory of the late boxing great Ricky Hatton.
The 44-year-old is raising funds for the suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), where Hatton served as an ambassador.
Barker will cycle from the Scottish capital to Dover before swimming 21 miles across the English Channel. He will then cycle from Calais to Gibraltar, finishing the adventure with a nine-mile open-water swim across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco.
Speaking before the trip, Barker recalled interviewing Hatton last September, just days before the former world champion was found dead at his home.
"Last September, I had the honour and the privilege to speak to Ricky Hatton on a podcast. And days later he wasn't with us, so it really struck home and hit hard," Barker said. "And made me really understand what a terrible illness mental health is. I want to do something for Ricky, I want to do something to spread awareness."
Barker, who won the IBF middleweight title in 2013, said he felt compelled to take on the physical and mental test for his friend, and for the wider public.
A hero of British boxing
"I feel like I owe this to Ricky. He gave up his time to speak to me, so this is something I need to do for him, and I want to do, and I need to do for the bigger picture," Barker said.
"I need to do this for all the people out there suffering, to know that it's OK to not be OK. I want to encourage these people to have these uncomfortable conversations, and hopefully save lives in the future."
Hatton is remembered as one of Britain's most popular fighters, drawing tens of thousands of fans to arenas in Manchester and Las Vegas during his peak.
"He will always be a hero of mine. He was the man that brought the big nights to British boxing. The man that brought the big crowds," Barker added.
"But away from boxing, he was so likeable, he was the man next door, everyone could relate to Ricky. So funny, charming, just a real good guy with a big heart and someone that people could look up to. He is massively missed."
Changing lives
Barker called the challenge "The Longest Round" and said he hopes it will make a tangible difference to people struggling with mental health.
"It means an awful lot. It means that I, along with the team, and everybody else following this, that we have an opportunity to make a real difference here," he said. "This is about changing lives, helping people. This is bigger than swimming and cycling, this is a huge opportunity to try and make a difference, and that's what I want to do."
The former fighter reflected on his own experiences with grief, including adjusting to life after retiring from the ring and losing family members.
"You, I guess, go through your early stages of life, being selfish, and you're on your own journey, trying to fulfil dreams and aspirations to do this and that, and then you kind of, in my situation anyway, achieve that, and it's about what next," Barker explained. "And for me, it feels right to help and just try and raise money and awareness for something now that has really resonated with me."
"Even myself as a retired fighter, grieving the loss of boxing, grieving the loss of my brother, my grandad, understanding that grief is a part of mental health. So along with everyone else, this isn't just me, I may be getting on the bike and in the sea, but this is all of us pulling together and being there for one another."
"Let's be nice to one another, let's be there, let's support. So much hardship in the world as it is, so if we all pull together, we're halfway there you know."
Supporters can contribute to the fundraising effort via Barker's JustGiving page.
