A WREXHAM man currently walking across America for charity was given the surprise of a lifetime when he received a message from Ryan Reynolds.

Paul Edwards is a marathon and ultramarathon runner from Penycae who has raised thousands for Hope House over the years.

His latest challenge began on Friday, January 6 and will see him trek from the Pacific Coast in Ocean Beach, California to the Atlantic Coast at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina over a five-month period.

Paul is aiming to raise a total of £15,000 for Hope House along the way.

But, what he did not expect to have along the way was some support from one of his much-loved football club's star owners.

READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds sends message to 'inspiring' Wrexham kid "going through the ****"

Paul was left speechless when he recently received a message from Deadpool actor Ryan, who owns Wrexham AFC alongside friend and fellow actor Rob McElhenney.

He said: “I was having a coffee outside a petrol station when my GPS watch, which is linked to my phone, buzzed with a notification.

“I glanced and it showed Ryan Reynolds on the screen and I assumed it was a Twitter post, then I read the message and it started with ‘Hi Paul’, I thought it was someone messing around but we had a quick chat about Wrexham FC. The fact that he messaged me is awesome, plus he is now following me on Instagram.”

Ryan also offered to provide Paul with a free phone so he could keep in touch with everyone back home in Wrexham saying: “I can imagine how essential it is to be in touch with the folks back home. Particularly the boys at The Turf.”

This is not the first trek Paul has taken on in aid of Hope House and many will remember him walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End dressed head-to-toe as Ryan's Marvel character, Deadpool.

This time around, Paul has already conquered California and is currently in Arizona on a 3,000-mile trip which will see him also pass through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

During his first few weeks in America Paul has already had some extremely kind help along the way.

“The biggest thing I found was the genuinely good nature of the Californian people, when they asked me what I was doing and they found out it was for a children's hospice, they were only too keen to help me with anything I needed,” he said. 

“One family invited me to their home for dinner, another person invited me to use a caravan he owned as a place to spend the night, while another bought me dinner and gave me $140 for food and accommodation.”