Jack's memory prompts fundraising effort
THREE Felixstowe men have successfully completed a swim-bike-run challenge as a tribute to a youngster who lost his brave battle with cancer.
THREE Felixstowe men have successfully completed a swim-bike-run challenge as a tribute to a youngster who lost his brave battle with cancer.
Martin Carter, Colin Damant and Dennis McGeachie took part in the Mazda Blenheim Triathlon in memory of Jack Wilkinson who died three years ago aged 12.
All the sponsorship money raised by the trio from the event will go to Jack's Fund for East Anglia's Children's Hospice (EACH).
The team had to compete in a relay consisting of a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and five km run.
Last year they did it in one hour 36 minutes and this year beat that - coming in at one hour 33 minutes at the event at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire.
Mr Damant did the lake swim, while Mr Carter did the cycling leg and Mr McGeachie the run.
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“Last year we had a beautiful day and this time it poured with rain but it was still a great weekend,” said Mr Carter.
“There were 5,000 competitors over the weekend and it pushes us a little bit - we like doing these kind of events and the main thing is to raise as much money as we can in memory of Jack to help other children with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses.”.”
The trio have tackled many challenges over the past decade, raising tens of thousands of pounds for good causes.
Their achievements include cycling from Land's End to John o'Groats and canoeing the Caledonian Canal as well as completing the Three Peaks Challenge, the Yorkshire Three Peaks Walk, the London Marathon and the Coast to Coast Bike Ride.
Now they are in training for their next big event - a 355 mile sponsored cycle ride from Derby to Berwick upon Tweed in September, also in memory of Jack.
Jack, of Fairfield Avenue, Felixstowe, was first diagnosed with a rare form of bladder cancer when he was just two. After eight years when the disease went into remission, the cancer returned and he died in August 2006.
Tell us your fundraising stories - write to Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
