FRANNY BENALI has completed his epic 1,000 mile run, as he triumphantly returned to Southampton this afternoon.
The former defender was greeted by rapturous applause by over 30,000 people inside St Mary's Stadium, after his journey which took from Newcastle's St James' Park to the south coast, via every single Premier League Stadium.
Benali's eyes were teary as he burst through the waiting crowd before the game, with many fans lining the streets and missing kickoff to catch a glimpse.
The anticipation built and the road was so packed that security had to clear a path for him to run through before he made his was into the ground.
Names from Saints' past formed a guard-of-honour for Benali as he ran a final lap of the pitch to cheers from the Saints and Toon fans alike.
Franny said: "I'm so pleased and delighted to be at St Mary's now and it's been a long three weeks.
"There's been a lot of difficult challenges and tough days but the support from my family and the support from the team with me has been incredible.
"We were told as we were coming into Southampton that the donations were creeping up and I was getting regular updates. When it came up to £100,000 it was incredible to hear and it's such a fantastic cause.
"I can't thank the fans enough."
He was flanked by eight-year-old Jack Joslin and Hayden Stanley, seven, who acted as the mascots holding Franny’s hand as he strode into the stadium bowl.
Both boys are cancer survivors who have experienced more than most at such a young age.
Earlier today, he was joined by Saints chairman Ralph Krueger and during his three week challenge, stars such as Matthew Le Tissier and Alan Shearer have run alongside him as they support the herculean effort.
Franny has been raising money for Cancer Research UK and by the time he arrived in Southampton had already attracted donations totalling more than £100,000.
To make a text donation from your mobile phone please text “BIGR55 followed by the amount you would like to donate EG £1, £3, £5, £10” to text number 70070. For example, if you wanted to donate £10 text BIGR55 £10 to 70070.
Alternatively, visit benalisbigrun.com where you can also donate.
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