Yesterday Trish was in Narrandera and is expecting to arrive in Wagga Wagga tomorrow.

Last Wednesday Trish was on her way to Balranald having clocked up 80 kilometres on the day and was finding the going tough.

With the Hay plains looming ahead of her Trish was having a lowly day.

“I am feeling really down and out,” Trish said.

“I have been thinking about Lisa with the reality of her death is just hitting me and I’ve shed more than a few tears,” she said.

Trish who lost her daughter Lisa Howard-Smith in 2004 to a complication from Marfan Syndrome, an aortic dissection.

Since then Trish has been determined to raise awareness of Marfan Syndrome, which in turn prompted her to embark upon a marathon trek from Adelaide to Canberra talking to people along the way about the disease and also raising money for the Heart Foundation.

“I’ve spoken to so many people along the way telling them about Marfan Syndrome and people are beginning to recognise the dangers associated with the disease,” Trish said.

“If I can save a life by getting Marfans out there I will be happy,” she said.

Last Thursday, Trish was still feeling depressed and a little fed up with the continuous problems she was having with the camper van that she hired for her journey at great expense.

Trish made her way across the Hay plains later in the week. She was expecting that leg of her journey to be the hardest with soaring temperatures, but she was blessed with low temperatures, a tail wind and light drizzle.

Her daughter Karen who will be accompanying Trish on the rest of her journey will meet her in Wagga.

“I’m on the home stretch now and my adrenaline is really pumping,” she said.

Trish has written to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd and also to the Federal Member for Eden Monaro Mike Kelly asking if they can meet with her, Professor Malcolm West and his wife Jennifer at the end of her walk from Adelaide to Canberra on January 30.