Weeley firefighter walks 100km to support local girl
He raised £2000
An on-call Essex firefighter's raised £2000 for to support a little girl who needs specialist therapies.
Jon Turner from Weeley Fire Station took part in a 24 hour walk from London to Brighton earlier this month, whilst wearing a Breathing Apparatus set - weighing around 15kg
He completed 100 kilometres to help 8-year-old Alexia Rose Sinclair.
Jon said:
“Alexia hasn't had an easy time since being born. She needs many specialist therapies to help her reach her potential and give her a better quality of life.
“I chose to do this walk after bumping into Alexia’s dad on a training course and he mentioned that they wanted to fundraise for her. I also wanted to raise awareness for Alexia, regardless of if anyone donates, raising awareness of what she is is going through and how not everyone has quite an easy ride through parenthood was important to me.”
Raising £2,000 himself, Jon was joined by a team of local friends including Alexia’s dad and together they’ve raised almost £10,000.
While walking 100 kilometres in 24 hours was a challenge in itself, Jon decided he wanted to set himself another challenge of walking with a Breathing Apparatus set on which added 15kg to his kit.
He said:
“It was tough, really tough but we did it and raise lots of money for a good cause.
“I didn’t put two and two together that the day of the walk was also the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and as a tribute to everyone who lost their lives, I’ve chosen to donate my fire service wage from being an on-call firefighter to The Fire Firefighters Charity.”