Derbyshire firefighter completes 130K running challenge for charities helping wife and colleagues

Paul Hibbit, 48, set out to complete a 10K run every weekend during the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing – a television event which had inspired him to take on smaller acts of fundraising in previous years – taking his final steps back to the Chesterfield Road fire station on Saturday, December 17.

Running in full firefighter’s kit and breathing apparatus for the challenge each week made it slow going at first. Paul described it as the hardest thing he had ever done – but it did the trick of attracting attention, support and donations while out on the streets.

He said: “It was a mixed feeling at the end. I was pleased to finish but I’ll also miss it. It really bought the station together. All the other firefighters got behind me and joined some of the runs, and we had others visiting from stations in Bolsover, Crich and Belper just to take part.

“Lots of the other firefighter’s were saying they’d never done anything like this. They’ve been asking what we can do next year that’s just as big. I don’t know that we’ll do 13 weeks of running again.”

He added: “We watched the Strictly final in the evening and I think they had it easier. I feel a lot fitter than when I started but coming back up the hill to the station on the final run was a bit of a killer. I think the kit can hang back in the cupboard for a bit, but some of the lads have asked if we can go for a run on Christmas Eve, and we might well do it.”

At the time of writing, Paul had raised more than £1,300 to be split between the Fire Fighters Charity, which cares for the welfare of those in the service and their families, and the PBC Foundation, which supports people living with same life-changing liver condition as Paul’s wife Caroline.

Fellow PBC patients and people connected with the charity had travelled from across the Midlands to support Paul’s efforts and raise awareness of their work.

Many were there at the finish line to congratulate and thank Paul and his colleagues, who were soon rushed into action again on their second 999 call of the day.

Paul said: “On the last run we went through Matlock to Matlock Bath, Cromford and back again. People were cheering us on, pipping their car horns and emergency service vehicles were putting their sirens on.

“It’s been really nice along the way that I’ve been able to educate the other firefighters about PBC, and when passers-by would ask what we were doing it all for my colleagues would stop to explain it all. If we’ve opened 50 people’s eyes, that might be the most satisfying thing of all.”

Caroline, a former army nurse who later worked at Steeple Grange Dental Care in Wirksworth, may eventually require a liver transplant due to the effects of primary biliary cholangitis, a long-term condition which causes the patient’s immune system to mistakenly attack their bile ducts, causing more and more damage over time.

Its cause is little understood, but those living with it may be plagued by extreme tiredness, bone and joint aches and constant itching among other symptoms.

The PBC Foundation offers is the only UK-based organisation that specifically deals with the condition, offering patients access to a global support network, information on living with the illness and advocating for improvements to care and treatment.

Paul said: “We’ve had messages of thanks from both charities and I’m pleased we’ve made an awful lot of money. The support the PBC Foundation has given to Caroline makes running 130 kilometres completely worthwhile.”

To learn more about Paul and Caroline’s story, and add to their final total, go to https://bit.ly/3G2LcfE.

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