When football legend John Terry hit the wall at the London Marathon, it wasn’t a coach or physio who came to the rescue… but a giant running shoe from Jersey.
An islander raising funds for Jersey Hospice Care received praise from the former England captain for providing motivation and some much-needed fuel.
Karl Fitzpatrick once again completed the race in a giant trainer costume, an outfit he has donned a number of times to help his fundraising efforts.
But ‘the shoe’ wasn’t the only thing that drew attention on Sunday, after the islander went out of his way to help a struggling runner – who turned out to be former Chelsea icon John Terry.
““He had hit the wall – he was struggling,” Karl told Express.
“I basically gave him a bit of a pep talk,” he explained, adding that also gave the football legend some running gels before sprinting ahead – only to return with a bottle of Coke.
“If you see somebody down or struggling you are always going to help,” he said.
“I just wanted to make sure he was fine – I knew he could do it.”
Terry later acknowledged the support on social media with “a big shout out to the guy dressed as a shoe”.
“[He] gave me some great words of encouragement and gave me some sweets and gels, he then carried on running, about two minutes later he came running back towards me with a bottle of Coke.
“Thank you mate,” the football star wrote.
Those interested in donating to Karl’s Hospice fundraiser can do so here.