Chris, 88, to walk on fire for charity
Published: June 9, 2006
Updated, Thursday, June 8, 1.30pm: THERE are several things your doctor might advise you not to do once you reach the grand old age of 88… walking bare-footed across a red-hot bed of burning embers would probably be one of them.
But that’s exactly what octogenarian Chris Mason, of Robin Hood’s Walk, Boston, will be doing later this month to raise money for Hovenden House, the Leonard Cheshire nursing home at Fleet.
Chris, Boston’s assistant head postmaster before retiring nearly 30 years ago, appears unworried by the 1,200C temperature the embers will have reached by the time he begins his fire walk.
“Well, I don’t like going to bed with cold feet,” he says with a chuckle. “It’ll certainly be a bit different. There must be some knack to it – they tell me the team who organises it hasn’t lost anybody yet.”
Chris will be one of several people taking part in the sponsored fire walk at Hovenden House on Friday, June 30, as part of the nursing home’s gala fundraising weekend which will also include a disco, live music and other attractions.
Chris’s friends and family are getting used to his age-defying activities – back in 2000 he cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for the Multiple Screlosis Society. He was 82 at the time.
“I still love cycling,” he says. “It’s great exercise. It’s a lovely way to see the countryside – no noise, no fumes.”
Chris admits his wife Linda thinks he ‘must be mad’, but it’s clear he sees Hovenden House as a charity worth risking a few singed toes for.
“It’s a great cause,” he says. “The staff are so dedicated, they look after the residents really well. I understand they’re now after a new minibus. It makes you feel so guilty when you go there, being so fit and with some of them having been in wheelchairs for 20 or 30 years. But their spirit is still there.”
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