CHRISTMAS Day brought a special milestone for a Tillicoultry woman who pledged to walk, run and bike 1000km in support of families affected by ectopic pregnancies.

Emma Jolly went on her final trek on day 318 of the challenge, covering the remaining kilometres well ahead of her goal of meeting the target in a year.

The fundraising drive was inspired by her own heart-breaking experience of losing a baby a few years ago.

She suffered an ectopic pregnancy, where the embryo implants itself outside of the womb, and was left fighting for her own life at one point.

She set out to raise money for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust (EPT) and has also been sharing her story in a bid to highlight the condition.

The 37-year-old completed the feat on December 25, joined by her son Liam and faithful walking companion, dog Kobi.

She said: "I decided that I would like to do my last walk on Christmas Day, I thought it was a nice way to honour the baby that I lost as well.

"I was actually quite emotional; I'm actually really proud of myself as well because the amount of money that I have raised for the charity – it's just overwhelming."

The journey has brought the unexpected for Emma, who initially set her fundraising target at £500.

However, she smashed that number in a matter of hours and is sitting at more than 12 times that amount.

She has received £6275 in donations to date and her Just Giving page will remain open until around February time.

Emma has paid tribute to the huge amount of support she has been given along the way and is really glad to have done it.

She said: "Thank you for everybody that has sponsored me, joined me on my walks; a big thanks to the Thistle pub who helped me do my race night.

"Just everybody that has got behind me, it just really has been amazing – I just feel like the whole community has come together.

"It's made me feel better in myself; it's made me feel like I can actually talk about what happened, I know it's helped other women as well."

Along with raising money for the EPT – which previously described her as a "true inspiration" – she has been raising awareness to make more women aware of the symptoms.

Her message has been reaching far and wide, with one lady from Canada even getting in touch.

And Emma was part of a group of around 30 that visited The Kelpies, which were lit up pink and blue, to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

An ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause in of death in early pregnancy and affects one in 80 women.

EPT supports those who have experienced an early pregnancy complication and the health care professionals who care for them.

For more information on the charity, visit ectopic.org.uk

To give Emma a donation, head to justgiving.com/fundraising/e-jolly