A BOXING coach spent 24 consecutive hours in the ring for a Padathon challenge in aid of an 11-year-old boy with a rare bone cancer.
Gary Crickson, owner of Forge Fitness & Boxing in Rainhill, took on the sponsored 'Padathon' which saw him pad willing participants every hour on the hour for four rounds for 24 hours straight.
The event was organised by Gary and wife Lisa after they became aware that their friend Emma Cooper was a close family friend of Georgy Capener.
Georgy, 11, from Crewe, has a rare bone cancer called Ewings Sarcoma, which he was diagnosed with aged eight.
However in April, Georgy and his family were told that although his treatment was preventing the cancer from spreading, sadly further treatment to save his life could not be funded on the NHS.
Upon hearing this devastating news, and after much research, his mum Helen, discovered doctors in Thailand who could perform stem cell treatment from a donated umbilical cord, to replace the mother cell causing Ewings Sarcoma, as currently his radiotherapy and chemotherapy is treating the symptoms but not stopping the cancer returning.
Gary in action during the challenge
Gary and Lisa decided they had to help the family in a bid to raise £120,000 to ensure Georgy would be able to travel to Asia to undergo treatment which has a high success rate for patients.
The family's fundraising efforts have gathered pace and they have raised more than £80,000 so far but ideally they need to get Georgy to Asia by the middle of September to ensure he does not relapse and require further chemotherapy again before travelling out.
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Gary and Lisa came up with the idea of a 'Padathon' along with a range of other fundraising ideas including a weekly bonus ball, grand raffle and a sponsored sleepover in the gym on the same night as the challenge to bring in additional donations. Each person participating will pay £5 to sleep over and provide moral support to Gary.
A team of friends and clients from Forge Fitness immediately jumped on board to rally round and raise awareness.
Lisa said: “Myself and a team of our Forge Tribe along with friends in the local community, have been working behind the scenes to organise fundraisers such as bonus ball draw, a grand raffle and the sleepover to ensure extra pounds end up in the bucket for Georgy! So far we’ve raised total of £994.50 in just over two weeks! We have set a £2,000 target and we’d love to smash that.
"Businesses have been donating to the raffle and the response has been fantastic, our friend Hannah Ford, has arranged for donation buckets to be on the bar at her pub the Brown Edge, Nutgrove so if you are up there please donate what you can!”
Gary's friend Ian Pitts,owner of Cork & Dough in St Helens, stepped up with a generous prize to the raffle, along with many other businesses The Hair Studio in Rainhill, Liverpool-based AR Oven Cleaning Ltd and Rainhill-based Bodyshop consultant Holly McClatchey.
With Georgy a Liverpool Football Club fan, Gary and Lisa have two pairs of LFC football boots donated by Liverpool player and Canadian international Liam Millar with a raffle held.
See justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gary-cricksn-1-georgys-fight or justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helen-capener-4
Pictures and video courtesy of Rainhill Rocks
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