Anton McNulty
Belmullet man John Reilly was among a group of around 40 people that set a new world record at the weekend for the longest time spent on a ferris wheel. The ferris wheel stopped at 10.30am on Sunday morning, after it had spun 820 times.
The new record was set on the new Revolver wheel in the Point Village near the O2. The new time of 24 hours and 30 minutes broke the previous record by 22 minutes. The world record attempt was in aid of the Bone Marrow for Leukaemia Trust.
John (22) was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was eleven months old and spent a large part of his early life receiving treatment in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. John, who is now in the full of his health, told The Mayo News that he jumped at the chance to raise money for the charity and become a World Record breaker.
“I found out about the challenge on Facebook, and when I learned it was to raise money for the Leukaemia Trust I had to get involved. The Trust does so much to help people with the same problems that I had,but thankfully I am now restored to full health. I now want to help others,” he said.
Going slowly around in a circle in a small pod for over 24 hours may not be everybody’s idea of a good time, but John explained he did not feel the time go by even if it got a bit shaky at times.
“After the first six or seven revolutions you get used to the pod … Saturday night was a bad night, and when we were at 66 feet, it did get windy and the pod started to shake … There was also a bit of a draft, but we had our sleeping bags and plenty of clothing to keep us warm and we did get some sleep. It was not really that claustrophobic because of the glass,” he explained.
In the weeks running up to the event, John helped raise €900 through sponsorship in Dublin and Belmullet, helping to make up the €20,000 that was raised.
Anybody who wishes to sponsor John and help raise money for the Bone Marrow for Leukaemia Trust can still do so by going visiting www.mycharity.ie/event/2kforbmlt.
