A DUNFERMLINE woman is taking on a near-100-mile walk in memory of her "eccentric, funny, and quirky" best friend.

Rachel Brown, 26, was left rocked by the sudden death of 21-year-old Alasdair McFadzean in 2018 and has now vowed to raise funds to host cardiac screenings in his honour, with the first to be held in in the city.

"I think he would have thought I was nuts!" she told the Press, thinking of her pal's reaction to watching her participate in the challenge.

"We used to sit in the house and order takeaways that were a few steps from the front door – he would be laughing at me."

Rachel, alongside her mum, Susan Cole, and husband, Paul Brown, will be walking from Milngavie to Fort William over the course of seven days, starting this Sunday, August 7.

Her stepdad, Stevie Cole, will also be on hand, picking them up and taking them to back to their hotels at each stopping point.

"I am looking forward to it, I have been walking with friends, and the dogs, but seven days of walking will be interesting," she said.

"The shortest day is nine miles, and the longest will be 18, we will set off first thing each morning and if it takes till 10pm then it does.

"I was going to do it myself, I had my epiphany moment and said to them that I was going to do it, my mum called me later on and said she would do it with me, and then Paul said he would too if she was doing it.

"It is quite daunting but we have had lots of support, there are lots of people following us from all over and getting involved."

Backing has also come from several businesses, both in Dunfermline and Ayrshire, where Rachel and Alasdair grew up.

Each one that donates will have their name on the back of the group's t-shirts as they complete the trek.

Rachel says she is "passionate" about funding a screening in the city and has been organising efforts, such as a 24-hour game-a-thon in between her work at Screwfix and training to become a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, something which her friend had always encouraged her towards.

"He pointed me in the right direction, he was actually a good influence for once!" she said.

Her studies are just one of the ways she remembers Alasdair, who she explained still impacts her life on a daily basis as she and his family experience big events, such as his sister's graduation, without him there.

"It is about finding ways to be normal – to say actually he would be thrilled that this is going on.

"Everything has a tinge of bittersweet.

"I got married after he passed – it was the best day of my life but at the back of your mind you're thinking about it.

"His family are my second family, they have been really encouraging and really keen to help, it is all about being able to prevent it happening to others."

Rachel is asking for donations to go directly towards C-R-Y, a charity which works to prevent sudden cardiac deaths in young people by funding ECG screenings for people between the ages of 14 and 35.

A donation portal set up in Alasdair's name has been created on the site at: https://www.c-r-y.org.uk/alasdair-McFadzean/