Men's Health Week (9-15 June) is focused on encouraging men to share their health stories and someone with a remarkable story to share is Josh Hewitt, 27, from Richhill, County Armagh. Josh recently took on the challenge of walking the length of a marathon to raise vital funds for local health charity, Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS). What makes the challenge even more amazing is the fact that just one year ago Josh was 21 stone and found walking half a mile difficult.
Josh explains, “This time last year I was morbidly obese and weighed 21 stone. Like a lot of people, I started putting on weight over lockdown and afterwards through working from home in a job that I wasn't really that fond of. I worked shifts and unsociable hours, it was a very sedentary job, and I was living off takeaways. This all took its toll on my weight.”
“Whenever the company I was working for went into liquidation and I lost my job, it gave me the opportunity to reassess my health and lifestyle. I knew I needed to get in shape as I was only creating problems for the future. What followed was a year-long fitness journey which has led to me losing nearly five stone and walking played a massive role in this.”
“At the start I couldn’t even walk one mile. There is a shop about half a mile from where I live, and I started walking up there every day. But that was all I could do- I had to hold onto the wall on the walk back.”
“It took a lot of willpower to keep trying, getting out walking and making other changes to my lifestyle and it wasn’t easy. There were days when I wanted to give up, eat unhealthily and not exercise, but it was a case of mind over matter. I kept going, building on things bit by bit. The healthier I got, the more challenges I wanted to set myself, and that is how the idea of the marathon walk came about.”
Talking about his fundraiser, Josh says; “I signed up to run the Belfast City Marathon three years ago but found out I had a cyst in my back so running wasn’t possible anymore. That desire to do a marathon distance didn’t leave me however, it has always been something I wanted to do.”
“Once I got myself to a certain level of fitness, I chose to fulfil that dream and walk a marathon. I decided to do it to raise funds for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke because one of my grandas passed away with COPD, a lung condition, and my other granda had a stroke and eventually passed away due to the lasting side effects. I wanted to do something to test my endurance. The people NICHS helps face challenges every day so I thought I should put myself in a challenging situation and hopefully be able to raise some money to help them.”
“My friend Abbie (Hayes) kindly agreed to do the challenge with me. I began training and started with walking five-kilometre loops around the local back roads. I worked up to 10 kilometres and the most I did before the fundraiser was 20 kilometres. On the day, the route involved walking from The Mall in Armagh to Portadown Football Club’s stadium, then walking about three quarters of the way back to Armagh, turning and walking back to Richhill- where we walked around different parts of the village to make the total length!”
“I was a bit nervous on the day, but I got so many kind donations, and I just kept thinking about that. We hit a brick wall about twenty-five kilometres in, but we gave each other pep talks like, ‘think of everyone who has donated’, ‘think of the good we are doing for the charity’. The pride we felt when we finished was amazing, but the last kilometre felt like it took an eternity to finish! The route took us just over seven and a half hours to complete. I was hoping to do it within nine or ten hours, so that was a great achievement.”
Josh continues; “I didn't really realise the sorts of things your body goes through during a marathon. Our hands completely swelled. I don’t know if that is because your hands are by your sides swinging. I had the worst blood blister on my foot afterwards too. It was such good fun and totally worth it though. We had a Bluetooth speaker with us, taking it in turns to play different songs to motivate us. People came to cheer us along too. My mum did the first 20 kilometres with us and my brother and sister-in-law walked part of it with us which was great.”
“People were so generous with their donations. I hoped to raise £200 but the total was over £800 which is amazing. I am so grateful to everyone who donated, big or small, it was all so important. I appreciated every penny and want to say a massive thank you to everyone who made a donation and supported the fundraiser.”
“I want to try and make this a yearly thing now. It was a struggle, but I enjoyed it so much and I want to try and keep raising funds for NICHS.”
Josh’s efforts, both fundraising and towards leading a healthier lifestyle, are sure to inspire others, so does he have any advice? Josh says; “I feel so much better now I’m healthier, have lost weight, and exercise regularly. Walking every day makes you feel physically and mentally good. You feel like you have been productive.”
“People don’t seem to realise how good walking actually is for weight loss. Some people think you have to go to the gym, but walking is great for your health. It is easily accessible, free, a great way to get fresh air, see new things as you do different routes, and it is good fun.”
“You can start off small. When I started my fitness journey, I did things like instead of parking directly at the doors off Rushmere Shopping Centre I parked in the furthest car parking spot and walked in. Adding little bits on to your daily step count really helps. Instead of going up in a lift I would walk up the stairs. Adding in small, easy wins does make a difference. I would encourage everyone to get out and walk.”
Josh concludes; “It is never too late to try and make a change. It might not be easy, especially at the start, but it does get easier. I feel like I’m back in control of my life and am looking forward to the future.”
Valerie Saunders, Community Fundraiser at NICHS says; “We are very thankful to Josh for sharing his story and taking on this amazing challenge in support of our charity. The effort and dedication shown by Josh to try and lead a healthier lifestyle is nothing short of phenomenal, and we are delighted he now feels happier and healthier.”
“Today, there are at least 400,000 people living with a chest, heart or stroke condition in Northern Ireland - that's one in four of the population. Almost 90% of our income comes from public donations so fundraising efforts like Josh’s are vital in enabling us to continue to support the local community and provide life-changing services for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families.”
To find out more about the ways you can support Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke visit, https://nichs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/fundraise
