Nine-hour burpee challenge sees sister raise £3,000 to help with brother's rare disease
NINE hours of continuous burpees was one sister’s way of making her brother’s life easier and raising awareness for his rare autoimmune disease.
Evie Penington took on a gruelling charity challenge by completing 3,871 burpees, jumping to hit a 7ft 6in marker each time so the total height jumped was 29,029ft - otherwise known as the height of Mount Everest.
This ‘horrendous’ effort was Evie’s way of raising funds to support her brother Sam, from Portsmouth, and his family as well as donating money to Vasculitis UK, a charity researching treatment for Sam’s condition Churg Strauss Syndrome, or EGPA.
Evie, who now lives in London but grew up in North End, completed her intense challenge at Lakeside North Harbour with friends and family cheering her on throughout the task.
The 27-year-old said: ‘It was just such a rollercoaster, you just don’t prepare for how you’re going to feel mentally on the day. Some hours you feel like you’re powering through and some hours you think you're going to give up.
‘It was horrendous, the front of my legs were in bits. It was so tough, that night I couldn't even get up the stairs.
‘I wanted to do something that people thought was horrendous to get as much attention to the cause of the challenge as possible.’
There is currently no known cause or cure for EGPA, an inflammatory disease of the blood vessels, and 29-year-old Sam’s treatment is mainly trial and error to see what helps.
Evie has raised more than £3,000 so far to be split between support for Sam and his wife, Chelsea Heaton-Penington, along with their children, five-year-old Mason and Esme, two, and the research charity.
She said: ‘I can’t even get my head around it, it’s such an amazing thing to be able to make Sam and his family’s life a bit easier. The past year’s been so horrendous for them so I thought this would be so special for them to not have to worry.
‘It’s so underfunded and it’s such a rare condition that I wanted to hopefully help to find out more about the condition.’
To donate, or to read more, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/eviepeningtonburpeechallenge