Burton consultant raises more than £1,000 for charity with mammoth burpee challenge
A Trauma and Orthopaedic consultant at UHDB has helped to raise £1,100 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust by completing the mammoth task of 2,000 burpees in November.
Mr Christos Kitsis, Consultant Orthopaedic Hand Surgeon at Queen’s Hospital Burton, decided to take on the challenge after hearing about it through his local fitness group, Eureka Boot Camp.
He said: “Some friends who I usually exercise with made me aware of the 2,000 burpees in November challenge, raising awareness and funds for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.
"Being aware of how devastating this form of cancer can be, I thought I’d give it a go. I hoped to raise about £250 through a Facebook fundraiser, but I actually went on and, with the amazing generosity of my friends and colleagues, I managed to raise £1,100 which is great.”
The challenge involved Mr Kitsis having to tot up 2,000 burpees during the month of November. A typical burpee is a simple and yet strenuous military exercise combining a star jump, a deep squat, a back-kick and a press-up all in fast and smooth succession. In November, Mr Kitsis and fellow 'burpeesians' across the UK have raised a total of £951,000 .
He said: “The initial plan was to do 66 burpees per day but the prospective of missing out a day and having to do 132 the following day wasn’t particularly appealing. Instead I decided to gradually increase the number of my daily burpees. To my surprise and after not a lot of time, I felt stronger and there came a point where I was doing up to 250 burpees each day; I completed the challenge in 12 days. I’m proud that I’ve been able to beat my fundraising target and raise funds and awareness for an important cause. I am very grateful for the contribution of so many of my friends and co-workers to my fundraiser”
Mr Kitsis added: “Bone cancer is an aggressive form of cancer affecting adults and children. One such devastating diagnosis occurs every ten minutes. The prognosis is poor; even after a gruesome regime of chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by aggressive surgery the five-year survival rate is just over 50 per cent. Research is vital as it enables us to develop new medicines and treatment regimes so we can increase the survival rate and quality of life, therefore anything I can do to help is worthwhile.”