Worthing dad undertakes major burpee challenge for sons

Craig Peters, 35, of Westland Avenue in Worthing, has set himself the challenge of completing 67,161 burpees by adding one on each day of the year - one burpee on January 1, two the next day, three after that, and so on.

The motivation behind his challenge is to help raise money for fetal endoscopic equipment at St George’s Hospital in South West London.

In February 2014, Craig’s wife Kyrie was diagnosed with twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) while pregnant with their sons Quinn and Jude, which prevents an even flow of blood and nutrients between each twin.

He said: “I remember the 20 week scan, where we went in just to see how things were going. It was quite horrific at first, and we were soon sent up to London for emergency laser surgery - if we did nothing there was a 90 per cent chance we would lose the boys. There was that feeling we would never meet them and it is an illness you don’t know much about.

“We actually ended up staying at a hotel and had the procedure the next morning. I was standing at my wife’s head, and there was about 16 people in the room and I could see what was going on at a screen. I could see one of the babies at the end and it was like something out of a sci-fi movie.

“We got home and was just like, ‘what the hell just happened?’ It was the most dramatic 24 hours of my life.”

The challenge means in December Craig will have to complete just under 11,000 burpees.

He added: “Burpees are the exercise that people dread the most. Someone mentioned this challenge originally as a joke. It is funny how the mind and body work, adding one each day.

“There have been times when I have thought about giving in and then I think about the hospital staff.”

TTTS is something that occurs in 10 per cent of multiple pregnancies, where the flow of blood in vessels is out of balance resulting in one twin getting too much blood.

This can put a strain on the heart, while the other receives too little, which can affect their growth and survival.

For more information or to donate, visit the page here

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