A Dundee man has just completed a year of walking barefoot braving broken glass, sharp stones, thorns, ice, snow and high heels to raise awareness of the campaign for democracy in Burma.
Stephen Sharp, a senior member of Dundee University Students’ Association’s technical crew, went without shoes to show solidarity with those campaigning for free elections in the south-east Asian country. The 23-year-old also shaved his shoulder-length hair when he began his challenge on May 6 last year.
Stephen, originally from Ayrshire, came to Dundee to study interactive media design at Duncan of Jordanstone, graduating three years ago. He was inspired to do the walk by Ewen Hardie, a biology teacher from Edinburgh, who went without shoes for several years as a response to atrocities in Burma.
“Ewen, who was from Carnoustie, walked from Edinburgh to London to take a petition to the Prime Minister a few years ago,” Stephen said. “That was the initial thing that inspired me, then I saw a film called Burma VJ (video journalist), which was illegally shot by people who weren’t fighting against anything, just documenting what was going on.
“I couldn’t ever bear arms but I felt I could do something else to document things and raise awareness of what is going on.”
Stephen trudged through Scotland’s worst winter for years, only wearing shoes on a few days when conditions were too bad. “I added 10 days to the end of the period because of that. I once walked for half an hour in the snow and after that common sense kicked in discomfort is one thing but I thought, don’t be stupid.
“But I managed to go barefoot to work. A lot of places I have worked in were great and allowed me to do it, others said for health and safety reasons I had to wear sandals.
“A shop in Edinburgh, though, refused to let me in on ‘hygiene’ reasons. I asked for the manager and asked him when he had last cleaned his shoes and pointed out I had a shower that morning. He let me in.”
Stephen also revealed that, although his skin toughened up quickly, it still feels soft to the touch. “It’s like walking on a pumice stone for a year. You do get used to it but every time I stood on something sharp it reminded me why I was doing it.
“Over the year I’ve stood on quite a lot of things but never suffered any serious injuries. People regularly stand on my toes and the worst is high heels in clubs and pubs.
“I walked from Dundee to Edinburgh over five days last summer, camping out, and every day I had to spend an hour with a pair of tweezers and a small knife taking glass, stones and bits of holly out of my feet.”
Although raising money for charity was not his inspiration, Stephen has managed to raise several hundred pounds after people offered donations.
Despite officially reaching the end of the road on May 16, Stephen revealed he is finding it hard to stop going barefoot.
“If I go to the local pub or the shop then I don’t see the point in putting on shoes,” he said, “and I regularly forget when I’m on the way to work and have to go back and put shoes on. I’m not sure my boss believes me when I turn up five minutes late though.”