'Hero' Portsmouth fitness duo smash Murph world record to help teenage cancer patient

Portsmouth pair John Walker and Ray Pharoah, owner of the city's Southern Legion Strength and Conditioning Gym, raised over £7,000 after completing the infamous Murph Workout to raise funds for a 17-year-old North End gymnast Sian Reeds.

‘Emotional’ scenes erupted near the end as the struggling duo pushed through while Sian - largely now in a wheelchair as she undergoes end-of-life care - showed her ‘incredible determination’ by taking part despite struggling with headaches, strength and mobility.

Sian was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive DIPG tumour in 2018 sparking her into making a bucket list to make memories with her family.

John and Ray were among those who wanted to help Sian and her family and decided to take on the Murph challenge to grab the imagination of people.

The lung-busting ordeal consisted of a mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 press-ups, 300 squats and another mile run while wearing a 10kg weighted vest - with the pair doing the circuit for a full 24 hours.

It meant the relentless pair achieved just short of 20 of the circuits - or Murphs - beating the previous record of 17 held by American Brandon Breitenbach who sent a message of praise to the new record holders.

In total, the ordeal saw the men complete a total of 39 miles running, 1,975 pull-ups, 3,950 press-ups and 5,925 squats.

The workout, which started in 2015, is named after lieutenant Michael Murphy, a Navy seal who died in combat in Afghanistan.

Sian’s parents Matthew and Helen and her 15-year-old sister Tasia - who joined in some of the workout - appeared at the beginning of the challenge on Saturday September 12 and near the later stages

Matthew, 40, said: ‘When I got the message asking if Ray and John could do a Murph to raise money for Sian I could not believe it as it’s a really hard thing to do - I was blown away. I followed their training online and couldn’t believe how hard they trained to do this.

‘After the first three hours It started to hit me how difficult this challenge was - it has to be the most gruelling thing ever.’

Supporters joined in to help the men during their stint, including Tasia who had a ‘great time’ and completed two Murphs - leaving her parents ‘proud’.

Sian also joined in and was able to complete the one mile run, do 10 chin ups, 50 press ups and 100 squats.

Matthew said: ‘Sian unfortunately has had the bad news that the tumour has started to grow and is currently having palliative radiotherapy.

‘Even with all this going on Sian stayed as long as she could and was popping back through the day and late evening to support them.

‘What is amazing is Sian is struggling with her vision, strength, mobility and painful headaches, but she decided to get up out of her wheelchair and do a mini Murph to support Ray and John.

‘It’s really incredible the determination she has.

‘Ray and John are heroes in our eyes. Putting themselves through so much to help Sian and my family I just can’t thank them enough.’

The challenge took its toll, especially on Ray, 43, who tore both his biceps.

Nearly two weeks on from the challenge, he said: ‘There were a lot of challenges - it was actually less physical and more mental as we started getting tired into the later hours.

‘After tearing my biceps I knew I just had to crack on. I didn’t sleep much last week because I was in such pain but am starting to feel better now. The training for two months before helped a lot.

‘We raised over £7,000 with half of that raised in the 24 hours we were doing the challenge.

‘It was very emotional at the end with the family cheering us on and Sian taking part. We’re glad we were able to break the record but it was all about putting a smile on Sian’s face and making her feel special as well as raising money for her.’

John, 34, said: ‘We wanted to do something to capture the imagination. We are over the moon at achieving the record - I didn’t think we would be able to do it. But the priority was to do it for Sian.’

‘Brandon Breitenbach who previously held the Murph record has been in touch over Instagram to congratulate Ray and myself.’

John now hopes to bring all the former Murph record holders together for an annual showdown to raise money for a chosen charity. ‘It would be a great event to watch and would be exciting to see who comes out on top,’ he said.

To donate for Sian go to: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/24hchallengeforsian

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