A young hairdresser completed an 18.3-mile charity walk on Sunday after her mother was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease.

It took 6 hours 14 minutes for Laura Hughes, 24, and nine friends to walk from her home in Norwich to her mum's in Harleston in aid of the MSA Trust (multiple system atrophy) – a disease which is similar to Parkinson's but has no known cure or treatment.

'It went well but we are all feeling the pain now. The weather, unfortunately, was a bit wet but we kept our spirits up,' said Laura, of Grove Road.

'We have raised over �2,000 already and we can still accept donations over next few weeks.'

Laura, who works at Stryke Studios in Timberhill, Norwich, was joined on the walk by Ros Burrough, Chris Mountford, Kerry Pieri, Camilla Taylor, Greg Edwards, Bradley Middleton, Andy Waller, Rosanna Dunn and Heather Suckling.

Her mum, Helen, 57, first fell ill last August and was taken to hospital after a couple of falls, then woke up one morning unable to move. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's in January, then MSA in May.

Laura said: 'She's gone from being a very normal, active person to being cooped up, unable to move, walk or talk easily – it's heartbreaking. She's got something for the pain, but there's nothing to slow it down.'

MSA rapidly shuts down the body but the mind stays intact – the symptoms are similar to Parkinson's at first. There are only five in every 100,000 people with it.

To help her fundraising efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/laurahughes12

To find out more about MSA, visit www.msatrust.org.uk