East Sussex charity founder faces his phobia of snakes

Justin Wright, co-founder of WOLO, is no stranger to athletic challenges. Justin and a team of brave volunteers are due to embark on the enormous WOLO 100 challenge from now (October 1) until October 10. It will see them running and hiking for 10 days through the province of KwaZulu Natal to reach their 100-mile target.

More about WOLO here

The aim is to raise money for families in Sussex affected by cancer. However, this challenge hit a hurdle when wildlife experts helping to organise the event mentioned that the dates fell during snake season – a fact that filled Justin with total fear. Drusillas Park stepped in and invited Justin to a private snake introduction session to attempt to get rid of some of his anxiety around snakes.

James Woodward, head of education at Drusillas, introduced Justin to Maize the corn snake, Henty the milk snake, and Tilk the royal python. A spokesperson for Drusillas said: “Initially Justin struggled to bring himself to touch any of the snakes with even a single finger, gasping ‘oh my goodness’ and ‘get the head away from me’ on several occasions whilst visibly trembling. But, with some gentle encouragement and a patient approach, Justin eventually was able to not only touch the animals but built his confidence up to a lovely moment where Tilk the royal python fell asleep sweetly in his arms.”

Justin said afterwards: “I want to say I feel really happy and snakes are actually kind of cool, in the nicest possible way! That was really big for me, and I’m really proud of myself. There’s something in me that now kind of hopes I do see a snake out there, as that will be the real proof of whether my phobia has been cured. It was an incredible experience, thank you to Drusillas, and I look forward to telling everyone about our adventure when we come back. If you are able to support WOLO and our fundraiser, please donate via the JustGiving page.”

Drusillas

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