Alstonville News
Gorilla raising money for cancer charity
Gorilla raising money for cancer charity
By Samantha Elley
For the past 38 years, Woodburn resident Paul Stanley-Jones has looked forward to one particular day of the year.
On this day, he and his brother, Rob and son, Harry don gorilla suits and run in Sydney’s annual City 2 Surf fun run, navigating the streets of the inner city all the way out to Bondi Beach.
“This year we are in the Charity Superstars division and we are raising funds for the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse charity,” said Paul.
When Rob was diagnosed with testicular cancer back in 2006, Chris was his surgeon and Paul said doing the fun run to raise funds for the late doctor’s charity was a great way of giving back.
Originally, Paul and Rob ran the race with their father, but after he passed away, the gauntlet was transferred to the next generation and Harry is now an honorary gorilla.
“Being in the Charity Superstars division is the best thing we can do as normally we would start in the yellow pack, which is the second last to go, usually an hour and twenty minutes after the main gun,” said Paul.
“This year, we will be the third gun to go and by the time we finish the race, we will have done 26kms of the 14km track.
“That’s because we stop and sing with bands along the way, play the drums, dance with people. It’s a great day.”
It is not just a race for Paul and his family.
“It’s the best day of my year,” he laughed.
“There’s 18 of us from the family who get together and we stay at a hostel in Bondi reserved for us.
“We have a big catch up and Mum still comes.”
The ‘gorillas’ will be up at 4.30am and get to Town Hall by 6.30am, in their suits, just quietly.
The rest of the family follow an hour later and at the sound of the gun, the adrenaline and the fun begin.
If you would like to help a gorilla raise money for their chosen charity, visit the link below.
https://city2surf23.grassrootz.com/mylifehouse/paul-stanley-jones
To know more about the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse charity visit, click here.
For more health news, click here.
