Paralympic athlete William Tan will take on a 50-hour endurance challenge at Temasek Junior College (TJC) to raise funds for disadvantaged children.
Dr Tan, 58, who has been paralysed from the waist down since the age of two due to childhood poliomyelitis, will hand-cycle while pulling a child in an attached chariot in the event, lasting from 3pm on Aug 28 to 5pm on Aug 30.
It will celebrate Singapore’s 50 years of independence as well as Dr Tan’s sixth year of survival after a bone marrow transplant.
Diagnosed with Stage 4 leukaemia in April 2009, he is determined to “do more for the community” with his new lease of life. He aims to raise $50,000 to help needy children through three organisations: The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, Care Corner Orphanage Foundation in Chiangmai, and the Rotary Club of Bugis Junction’s Children in Need Fund.
The 50-hour challenge, named 50/50@TJC, will be Dr Tan’s toughest since his bone marrow transplant. The resident physician at the National Cancer Centre Singapore completed a similar 10-hour challenge in 2010.
Students from 50 schools, including Dr Tan’s alma mater Raffles Institution, will run alongside him during the challenge.
Members of the public who would like to accompany Dr Tan, including children wishing to ride in the chariot, may do so at the TJC track between 7am and 7pm, during the 50-hour period.
Dr Tan will be on a liquid diet and take short toilet breaks.
Eleven-year-old artist Gelyn Ong, whose art has raised over $700,000 for charities so far, has donated one of her paintings to support the fund-raising effort.
Those who wish to donate can e-mail organising chairman Paul Heng at paulhenght@gmail.com , or donate online at simplygiving.com/drwilliamtan.
Source: The Straits Times