A member of the Royal Army Medical Corps from Leyland is saddle sore after a charity fund-raiser - and he was nowhere near a horse!

Jeff Upton from Bamber Bridge spent four hours on a rowing machine at the West View Leisure Centre to help raise £350 for a children's charity.

Jeff jumped at the chance to raise money for the Starlight Foundation - which gives sick children dream holidays - because he once received help from a similar charity.

He said: "Because of the rower's small seat you feel like someone has hit you on the backside with a baseball bat after a while.

"One of the lads originally doing the challenge broke his finger so I volunteered to have a crack at it.

"I'd never been on a rowing machine and I only managed half an hour's practice the week before.

"Each of us did a total of four hours in shifts. We did one hour each but two of us decided to do half-hours after that. It was tough."

Fellow rowers Pete Beard and Bob Sterricker helped the ambulance crew complete the 12-hour marathon, along with three other teams.

Jeff had help from an army charity when his family went through a rough time in 1993. Jeff had to have his face rebuilt after an horrendous rugby accident and wife Heather fell seriously ill soon after.

He added: "The cause is dear to my heart because I was able to take the children to Lapland for a small break and even got to see Father Christmas during the difficult time.

"My wife was unfortunately too ill to go."

The trip was the only holiday his children have been on.

Jeff was posted to Preston due to his wife's illness and is staying with his in-laws and close to his dad, who all help look after his three children.

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