Bug-battling dad to tackle Sahara

chris.havergal@cambridge-news.co.uk

A FATHER of two who says beating a hospital superbug gave him a “new life” is to lead a 5,000-mile rally from Cambridge to the Sahara desert.

Former taxi driver Karl Scarr, 44, says beating MRSA two years ago made him realise he had not achieved enough in his time.

So next summer he and 27 other volunteers will make the trip - in stifling 55C heat and across tough terrain - in aid of two African charities.

The route will take the convoy of cars and jeeps through France, Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco, over the Atlas Mountains and across 400 miles of desert.

It will be the second time Karl, of Cherry Hinton, has made the gruelling drive.

Last year he undertook a slightly shorter journey in aid of the same charities - the East African Wildlife Society and La Crèche de Tanger, an orphanage for babies in Morocco.

Karl, also a former nightclub owner and restaurateur, said: “I had always been very busy with business but when I recovered from MRSA I realised I hadn’t done enough with my life