A Cheshire man set himself the huge challenge of running 10K a day for the whole of March in memory of his grandad, Rex, who passed away in a house fire in 2011.
Andrew Dickenson completed the epic challenge in aid of us, as a thank you to the firefighters who supported his family in the aftermath of the fire in Winsford, Cheshire – many of whom tried heroically to save both his grandad and his sister-in-law, who also passed away.
“My grandad was living with his sister-in-law at the time,” says Andrew. “It turned out my grandad’s late wife, and the other lady’s husband, were brother and sister. After they passed away, they moved in together to keep each other company.
“My grandad woke up when he heard the fire alarm and must have tried to save his sister-in-law who was in the room where the fire started. Tragically, he had a heart attack and died himself.
“The Fire Brigade were really good with the family afterwards – that’s the side you don’t hear as much about.
“I have a friend whose husband was a firefighter at the time, so it was close to home for us. I later found out he’d been attending that day and had suffered afterwards due to the impact it had – so I wanted to give something back to the Charity that’s there for people like him.”
Andrew, who grew up in Winsford but now lives in Middlewich, managed to fit a 10K a day in and complete the challenge, despite being a father of three and working as a Managing Surveyor.
“It was quite difficult to fit the 10k runs in, because I have three kids I share custody with my ex-partner with, and also around work. But I managed it every day, either indoors on the treadmill or outside,” he adds.
Andrew’s fundraising page is still open, and he’s already raised over £600. To donate to him, click here:
