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 CRYING
GAME: Mark Orchard, Neil Ditch and Terry Brokenshire are ready to run
Three Bournemouth firefighters will
prove they're all heart when they take to the streets of London later this month
in aid of a children's charity. Mark
Orchard, Neil Ditch and Terry Brokenshire are to run the London marathon to
raise money for Cardiac Risk in the Young - Cry. The
charity wants cardiac testing to be available for young people and 'elite'
sportspeople who may be at greater risk of heart problems. It
is estimated that at least four youngsters die suddenly each week in the UK from
cardiac abnormalities - a figure the charity believes could be lowered or even
eliminated if testing was available. Running
in heart shaped costumes, the lads hope to raise the charities profile and more
than £1,500 in cash for the campaign. Mark,
40, leading firefighter from Westbourne station, said: 'None of us has done
anything like this before. Neil ran a marathon when he was 18 - but that was a
few years ago now. 'Britain is
among a minority of European countries that don't test young sportspeople for
cardiac risk and we wanted to do something to help change that.' Mark
said he and Neil and Terry, firefighters at Redhill, have been pounding the
pavements since the foot-and-mouth crisis made country running impossible, and
are confident they'll be ready for the big day on April 22. 'It's going to be
hard but we'll do it. 'The
costumes make it quite difficult to run, you have to waddle. We're just
hoping it won't rain as they become pretty heavy when they get soggy!' With permission from the
Daily Echo
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