A PAIR of doctors has begun an epic challenge in an effort to help the people of earthquake-hit Nepal.

James Bennett and Suleika Rohd-Thomsen had been due to fly out to Nepal and volunteer in a hospital earlier this month.

Their trip was cancelled after the quake hit but the pair were still determined to do what they could to help.

So they decided to attempt to cycle 3,200km from York to Sicily in 40 days – including a trans-Alpine climb.

James, 28, said: “We have family in Denmark and we were visiting when the earthquakes happened. We had time off work and wanted to do something constructive with it. We looked at a map and found a straight line down from York.

“We have given ourselves 32 days to get there, but the whole thing will take 40 days.”

James and Suleika, 27, who hope to gain positions at York Hospital, want to raise £3,000 for Médecins Sans Frontières, which has been operating in Nepal since the first earthquake.

James said: “I’ve never done anything quite like this before. I’ve done coast-to-coast trips in France, and similar stuff in the UK, but Suleika has never done anything like this.

“We’re both looking forward to it though. Suleika says she’s having nightmares and not sleeping, but it’s a healthy mix of excitement and anxiety.”

To follow James and Suleika, search @BurningThighs on Twitter and Facebook, or to donate go to justgiving.com/jamesandleiki