Nine-hour burpee challenge sees sister raise £3,000 to help with brother's rare 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.

SEE ALSO: Portsmouth's sports community 'prays' for boy, 17, who had heart attack at football match

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

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.