Simon walks tall for charity
Simon decided to walk without his prosthetic leg to show his support for the young people who access the services of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
He set off on his gruelling 240km walk from Dublin yesterday and expects to arrive at the Locke Bar in Limerick city on Saturday, where a big reception party has been planned.
Simon, originally from London but now living in Castletroy, Co Limerick, lost part of his right leg following a workplace accident in 2004.
“I expect to have sore wrists and the hands will blister, but I will just have to get on with it. I deliberately set out to attract media attention in order to highlight the great work of the charity,” he said.
Simon, who will celebrate his 44th birthday on Friday, is engaged to Gillian Moloney, who is involved with the ISPCC’s Childline service.
“I learned from Gillian that there is a far more to Childline than answering phones and it is why I decided to take on the challenge,” he said.
Simon has been planning the walk for a year and is delighted that bookmaker, Paddy Power, has come on board as his main sponsor. “There are seven of us involved and there has been a bit of expense involved, so I was delighted that Paddy Power didn’t hesitate in backing us,” he said.
His team includes professional fitness instructor Jason Kenny, sports masseuse Orla Smyth, two fund-raisers from the ISPCC, Ned O’Dwyer,of O’Dwyer Safety Systems,and actor Francis ‘Concy’Ryan.
Simon, who said he found it difficult to get work after losing his leg, is nearing the end of a four-year community employment programme run by Limerick County Council.
“They were good enough to take a chance on me, so I will have a work reference that, hopefully, will help me get a job somewhere else,” he said.
ISPCC community fundraiser Marie Quirke said they would be a number of ways to support Simon, including texting the word STEP to 57252. More information is available at www.ispcc.ie.
* Simon’s progress can be tracked on Facebook under One Step at a Time 2011 and on the ISPCC’s Facebook page.
