Ashley Cain gives impassioned speech as he finishes Ultraman challenge

Former footballer Ashley Cain has given an impassioned speech reflecting on the loss of his daughter after finishing his Ultraman challenge.

In under three months the 33-year-old travelled from Land’s End to John O’Groats three times – once running, once cycling and once kayaking – in a journey of almost 3,000 miles to raise money for research into childhood cancer.

The challenge began on April 24, three years after his daughter Azaylia died from leukaemia.

On Saturday former reality star Cain posted a video of the celebrations as he finished his kayaking journey in Scotland.

He said: “Three years ago I lost the most beautiful, the most special, and the most incredible person in my life.

“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.

“And in that last three years, to do so, 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.

“And to be able to continue to do that is a blessing, to be able to battle for 80 days out there is a blessing, to be able to feel pain is a blessing.

“The main thing that my daughter taught me… is even through your darkest moments, you can create someone else’s brighter days.

“I had to have the very unfortunate thing to write my daughter’s eulogy.

“To try and write a eulogy for your daughter… is 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. To the top of every mountain, to the bottom of every valley, along every road and across every ocean.

“And by keeping my life that simple I’ve managed to achieve more things in the last three years than I have my entire life.

“I’ve stayed honest. I’ve stayed pure. I’ve stayed true and I’ve f****** stayed strong.”

In the caption on his post Cain said he had raised £196,042 for the Azaylia Foundation, which was set up in 2021 in memory of his late daughter.

The former Coventry City football player documented his challenge including injuries which included bruises and stress fractures.