Retired firefighter walks from Littlehampton to Brighton

Retired firefighter John Murphy was staying at The Fire Fighters Charity recuperation centre, Marine Court, Littlehampton, last month, and to show his appreciation did a sponsored walk.

Seventy-one-year-old John, who is from Merseyside and has a pacemaker, said: “I took out a map, and thought ‘Brighton looks nice’.”

He left the Fiztalan Road centre at 9am, arriving in Brighton and 3pm, and made it back to Littlehampton seven hours later.

The journey had been hampered, he said, by taking the wrong turn in Shoreham, but other than that he had “enjoyed the exercise”.

“I just want to broadcast how good it is at Marine Court – they really look after you, and deserve all the help I can give them,” he said.

John was a firefighter for 28 years, and only started experiencing health problems when he retired, in 1992.

Since then, he has made use of Marine Court on a number of occasions, and said he had been treated “amazingly well” each time.

He added he had been pleasantly surprised by the number of people in Littlehampton willing to put their hands in their pockets.

To add to John’s fund, call Marine Court on 01903 736071.