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A heartbroken husband who was left depressed when his sci-fi fanatic wife died has put himself on the road to recovery dressed as a Star Wars Stormtrooper.

Kevin Doyle's life fell apart when his wife of two years Eileen lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in November 2012.

His home and job as an artist vanished, and he struggled to carry on his routine.

But he's now using the Force again thanks to a 600-mile charity walk that's taking him from San Francisco to the Comic-Con convention in San Diego.

Kevin and Eileen, from Minnesota, met through their shared love of the Star Wars films and used to wear matching Stormtrooper outfits as members of the worldwide costume guild, the 501st Legion.

(Image: Rex Features)

He proposed to her wearing full Darth Vader get-up and they even had an R2D2 robot as the ring-bearer when they tied the knot in 2010. But sadly Eileen was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and died a year later.

Kevin, 57, said: "In the time since she died, I’ve struggled with how to deal with the loss. I've been self-destructive and my art suffered."

But he discovered some out-of-this-world strength of character after deciding he was going to walk down the length of the California coast to raise funds for Eileen's Little Angels, a charity supporting kids with cancer.

Kevin told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “When you lose somebody, you look for things like that. To me it was like she was telling me that this was something I needed to do.

"Being out here, my mindset is an open book. I hope I find enough healing to be creative and work in that way again.”

(Image: Rex Features)

Kevin has battled through torrential rain and heatwaves, dodged speeding freeway traffic and negotiated narrow cliff-top paths as he's pushed the trolley he uses to carry his camping gear and supplies up to 45 miles a day.

But he's encountered a lot of goodwill along the way. One couple joined him for 10 miles of his route, while others have read about him on social media and invited him to go round for dinner.

“Sometimes they just want to stop and give me a hug,” he said. “I haven’t wrapped my head around it at this point. I’m walking to honor my wife but I had no idea that people would make it their own personal journey.”