A FIREFIGHTER has raised thousands of pounds for a little girl’s specialist therapy after completing a gruelling charity walk wearing heavy equipment.
Jon Turner, 32, of Weeley Heath, has been an on-call firefighter working at the Weeley Fire Station since last September.
In between shifts, however, he is also a self-employed air conditioning and refrigeration engineer and runs his own company.
Earlier this month he tackled a lengthy walk from London to Brighton over a 24-hour period, all while wearing a breathing apparatus set weighing 15kg.
He embarked on the blister-inducing 52-mile trek in aid of eight-year-old Alexia Rose Sinclair, who has quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy.
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 course and he said 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 going through and how not everyone has an easy ride through parenthood was important to me.”
Alexia was born three months early June 2013 and was instantly unable to breath by herself and her parents were told she would never walk or talk.
After various operations, hospital stays, physiotherapy sessions, and years of struggle, however, Alexia now speaks and walks using a walker or when being held.
Her progress has now been given another boost after Jon, his friends, and Alexia’s dad raised nearly £10,000 from their walk - £2,000 of which was generated by Jon.
The money will now be used to help fund Alexia’s continued need for therapy and treatment, which will improve her chances of being able to improve her movement.
“It was tough, really tough, but we did it and raise lots of money for a good cause,” added Jon.
“I didn’t put two and two together that the day of the walk was also the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
“So, 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.”
To find out more or to donate to Jon’s fundraising campaign visit justgiving.com/fundraising/jon-turner24
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