Sister to take on 3,871 burpees in 24 hours to raise awareness of brother's rare disease

As well as completing almost 4,000 of every gym-goers least favourite exercise, Evie Penington will be jumping to hit a 7ft 6in marker, with the total height to be 29,029ft – equal to the height of Mount Everest.

Evie, who is from North End but lives in London, will be spurred on by raising awareness and funds for her cause, which is close to her heart.

Her older brother Sam Penington, from Portsmouth, was diagnosed in 2017 with an incredibly rare condition called Churg Strauss Syndrome, now renamed EGPA, which is an inflammatory disease of small and medium-sized blood vessels.

After being in and out of hospital and intensive care with this condition, medics found abnormal cells in Sam's bowel, leading to a lymphatic cancer diagnosis which meant he needed chemotherapy.

Before his EGPA diagnosis, Sam was feeling very run down but doctors could not work out the issue - until a visiting doctor who specialised in the condition suggested Sam should get tested.

Evie, 27, said: ‘If this guy hadn’t been there that particular day, all the doctors would have kept sending Sam home. It is fatal if untreated so he likely would not be with us today.

‘If more people knew about this, then more people can be diagnosed and get the correct treatment. There could be so many people that have had this that have passed and wouldn’t have even known they had it.’

There is currently no known cause or cure for EGPA, so Evie hopes to be able to raise £5,000 to split between information and research charity Vasculitis UK, and giving support to 29-year-old Sam and his wife, Chelsea Heaton-Penington, along with their children, five-year-old Mason and Esme, two.

Evie, who has never done an endurance challenge, is currently training eight times a week to help her brother and his family via her challenge, which is due to take place at Lakeside North Harbour on August 23.

To donate, or to read more, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/eviepeningtonburpeechallenge or follow her progress on Instagram @eviepenington

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