FAMILIES whose lives have been devastated by meningitis joined charity boss Steve Dayman on the Bristol leg of his latest marathon walk for charity.

Steve is in the middle of his 25th long- distance trek, during which he will clock up his 10,000th mile, completed in the fight against the disease which claimed his baby son, Spencer, 26 years ago.

His efforts have already resulted in some £1.6 million being raised for research into meningitis.

When he finishes his 540 mile walk on Sunday , he hopes it will have made another big contribution to the Bristol-based Meningitis UK appeal to raise £7 million to help develop a vaccine against meningitis B, the most common form of the disease in the UK which accounts for nearly 90 per cent of all cases.

The Big 4 Walk started in Southampton, took him to Sheffield and at the weekend to Bristol.

On Monday Steve, who is chief executive of Meningitis UK, was joined by supporters when he left Bristol University – one of a number of centres where his charity's money is being used for research.

He is now heading for Oxford and the finishing line in London, before he can return home to Alveston, near Thornbury, to put his feet up.

The walk route follows the shape of the number four to five university cities involved in meningitis research. It also reflects the fact that meningitis can kill in as little as four hours.

Joining Steve when he left Bristol were Gloucestershire cricketer Steve Kirby, Bristol writer and broadcaster Richard Hope-Hawkins and Meningitis UK patron Bob Woodward, who founded the children's cancer charity CLIC.

Also walking was retired Bristol teacher Martin Spiller, who was 52 when he contracted meningococcal meningitis four years ago.

He said he woke up feeling "rotten" and went to the doctor after deteriorating during the day.

He said: "I was prescribed paracetamol and told to go home and sleep but woke up in the night being sick. I got up and tried to go to the bedroom but collapsed on the landing and started having a fit."

He was rushed to Frenchay Hospital where the disease was diagnosed and he was pumped full of antibiotics.

Martin said: "I don't remember anything but apparently I was very close to death. It was very scary, not so much for me but for my wife because she nearly lost me.

"The message which I give people is not to ignore the symptoms. I was 52 – not in an at-risk age group – but I almost died from it."