By James Cartledge
ROYAL Navy medics are set for a marathon ordeal - running from Birmingham to Plymouth while carrying a stretcher.
The two-week, 360-mile challenge will see the team run a marathon distance daily on their journey from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to a recovery centre in the Devon city. They will begin next Thursday s at the QE's Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and raise cash for three charities, including the site's patient welfare fund.
They will head to the Ministry of Defence's Headley Court centre in Surrey, which treats recovering injured troops, and finish on April 17 at Haslet Company in Plymouth.
The unit, based at HMS Drake, supports wounded, injured and sick, servicemen and women.
Led by Lieutenant Jack Nicholson, patient services officer at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, the team will be joined on their last day by Royal Marine and Olympic athlete Chris Sherrington.
He represented Team GB at London 2012 as the UK's first heavyweight judoka in 20 years.
Jack, who carried out a previous stretcher-carrying challenge in 2010, said: "The aim is to raise awareness and funds for three very important military charities who work tirelessly to improve the quality of life for servicemen and women.
"The charities are the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine's Patient Welfare Fund, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and Help for Heroes.
"As medical personnel ourselves, we felt it was important to highlight the main facilities they support by carrying a stretcher along the route a patient could take from the point of injury to rehabilitation."
To meet the challenge, Jack sought advice from physiologists at the Institute of Naval Medicine in Hampshire, which specialises in high-impact activities.
The institute's work has included advising Prince Harry and the Walking with the Wounded team.
More information is available at www.rnmsstretchercarry.org.uk
Originally published by By James Cartledge STAFF REPORTER.
© 2013 Evening Mail; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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