Two siblings from An Spidéal have taken on the Orange Lockdown 14 day Burpee Challenge in an attempt to raise funds for joinourboys.org.
Ros na Rún actor Neasa Ní Chuanaigh and her brother Fintan who was a member of the 2018 Underdogs TV Series are partaking in the challenge to help raise money for this Trust.
The siblings donated €5 to take part and having started on 1st of May, for 1 minute they did as many burpees as they could. On the second day, 2 minutes of burpees and so on.
The Join Our Boys Trust is dedicated to raising awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) – to support the practical needs of Archie, George and Isaac – three brothers with the illness – and to support research that aims to provide treatment and eventually a cure.
Presently, the Trust is building a purpose-built house which the three brothers who are all now in wheelchairs, will use. This house will be a hospice and others with similar needs will be able to use it in the future.
The three terminally ill boys, Archie(14) and twins George and Isaac(10) have been cocooning since the start of March, inside a house that is not adequate for one wheelchair, let alone 3.
The twins turned 10 on the 1st of May and with their favourite colour being orange, the trust has gained momentum over the past few years for the 1st of May as ‘Wear Orange Day’.
Church Gate collections normally take place during this time but due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, other fundraising ideas were looked at. Various lockdown challenges have been taken place in order to raise funds for charity.
In just two days time Neasa and Fintan will have reached Day 14 where they will be going live on Facebook and will do as many burpees in 14 minutes as they can.
For each burpee they complete on the day, they will donate €1.
On day 8 of the challenge, the siblings donned their GAA gear. Neasa was in the black and orange of her club CLG Barna, while Fintan also wore the colours of his club, St James’s GAA.
Many of their teammates have supported them, not only by donating but also taking on the Burpee Challenge themselves.
“On day 8 we went head to head in our club jerseys as the GAA community have been very supportive of us both,” Fintan said.
“Neasa got 84 burpess on day 8 and I got 86.”
Yesterday the Ó Cuanaigh siblings reached day 11. Neasa has accumulated 740 burpees in total while Fintan has a slight lead, his total currently standing at 802 burpees.
“I’ve managed 802 in total on Day 11. I hope to get more than 140 on day 14 alone,” Fintan added.
If you would like to challenge yourself on Day 14, the Ó Cuanaigh siblings would be grateful if you would join them and raise awareness for this great cause.
You can donate directly through the website and keep up to date with all their progress at www.joinourboys.org or the gofundmepage.
Any donation is appreciated. Neasa and Fintan would like to thank all the neighbours, friends, teammates and local companies who have supported them. They would love if you could too!
