Adventurer returns home after 28-year trek across globe

Adventurer Karl Bushby has made his final stop in his home city of Hull this morning following a 28-year walk from South America.

Mr Bushby, now 57, set off from the southern end of Chile in 1998, when he was 28, vowing to walk all the way home without using any form of motorised transport.

Finally home, he was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers outside the City Hall in Hull.

"There has never been a welcome home quite like this," Mr Bushby said.

"This is absolute madness. After 28 years, you couldn't ask for more than this. This is the last, last few steps.

"I didn't do this alone. It was a big team. The biggest team - Earth.

"That's what it took to get me back."

He began his odyssey after his marriage broke down and his ex-wife returned to Northern Ireland with their son Adam.

After years of dangerous escapades, including crossing the notorious Darien Gap in Central America and traversing the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia on the frozen sea, Mr Bushby arrived back in England earlier this month, announcing that he had swum the Channel.

He made his final stop at Queen Victoria Square in the centre of Hull, where he was greeted by the Lord Mayor and Hull East MP Karl Turner, who read out a message of congratulations from UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

He went inside for a civic reception before embarking on the final leg of his 50,000km journey, to his mother's house, in the north of the city, which he last visited in 1998.

Mr Burnham's statement said: "To walk around the world from Chile and back again is an achievement of truly remarkable proportions.

"It speaks of courage, resilience, perseverance and unbreakable spirit."

The Prime Minister's statement also thanked Mr Bushby for his service to the country as a soldier.

"Your journey has taken nearly three decades, crossed continents and tested you in ways that most of us can barely imagine.

"But today, as you return to the city from which you left 28 years ago, you bring something far greater than any world record or remarkable personal achievement.

"You bring a story of what can be accomplished through extraordinary determination and self-belief."

A spokesperson said on Saturday Mr Bushby's return home is bound to be an "emotional" day, adding: "He's feeling like it's the end of his life as he knows. It's quite emotional.

"He doesn't really know what's out there for him for the rest of his life because this has been 28 years of focusing on getting to the next step, and that whole journey will be over on Monday.

"He says that it's going to be interesting to see how he feels and what happens after, what happens next."

The Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull and Admiral of the Humber, Maria Coward, had previously encouraged residents and visitors to come out and welcome Mr Bushby home.

She said: "So many people have followed Karl on his epic journey.

"We have all felt inspired by his spirit, tenacity and dogged determination to carry on in challenges faced by the most fearless of explorers.

"We all share pride in his incredible achievement.

"We also know what it's like to come home to Hull, that feeling as your car or train, or feet in Karl's case, crosses or goes under the Humber Bridge and over the city boundary.

"As the world's media and documentary crews gather in our city, we can show them how proud we are of Karl's achievement and how proud we are to be from Hull."