Ex-Royal Marine completes nearly 6,000 burpees in 24 hours
A former Royal Marines commando has raised about £13,000 for charity after completing almost 6,000 burpees in 24 hours.Jamie Grant, from Pershore, Worcestershire, undertook the burpee challenge, where someone squats, places their hands on the floor and jumps back into a push-up position, over Saturday and Sunday. He did the feat for The Royal Marines Charity which he said helped him overcome mental health issues years after he left the marines, having completed two tours in Afghanistan and been a part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.Mr Grant told BBC Hereford and Worcester he fell short of his target of 10,000 burpees, making it to 5,896, but said the challenge was never about the number.
"It was all about the charity and raising funds for an incredible cause," Mr Grant said. He said it was an "incredible challenge", despite feeling sore afterwards, adding that many of his Royal Marines brothers were there to help him "fight through".
Mr Grant was part of the 40 Commando unit which took part in the Battle of Al-Faw in Iraq in 2003.He previously told BBC Hereford and Worcester about how his wife called him while he was deployed and told him she was pregnant."The mixed emotions of having to get ready for operations and having this in the back of my mind all the while…it was quite difficult to focus on the job at hand," he said.
'Through dark times'
Years after he left the Royal Marines, Mr Grant started working for the ambulance service, which he described as a "rewarding" job but said it unearthed some of his struggles.He explained he would get short-tempered, had trouble sleeping and started having flashbacks, adding: "My world folded in."Mr Grant said if it had not been for his family and the charity, things "would be different".Of The Royal Marines Charity, Mr Grant said: "They're just incredible people. They are so selfless."They helped me through some dark times and I wanted to give back to the charity so others could receive the treatment I did."
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available by the BBC Action Line.
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Scotsman
Majority of Scots want to see pimping websites banned
Rhoda Grant MSP is due to lead a parliamentary debate on commercial sexual exploitation. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The majority of Scots want to see pimping websites banned, according to a new poll. Seven in 10 Scots want to see websites which advertise the sale of women for sex outlawed - only one in 10 say they would oppose proposals to make this illegal. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A higher proportion of women compared to men favoured making these sites illegal according to the Savanta poll, with the highest amount of support being amongst the over 35s. A cross-party group of MSPs are calling on the Scottish Government to ban online pimping, after an inquiry found commercial websites are facilitating sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant is due to lead a Holyrood debate on the issue, where she will say 'Scotland is an attractive destination for sex traffickers' because of the pimping websites. Current prostitution laws in Scotland mean pimping websites are legal, however MSPs will soon be asked to consider a bill which would criminalise the buying of sex. Ms Grant will lead her debate on stopping commercial sexual exploitation on Tuesday afternoon, where she will brand prostitution 'a form of violence against women'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: 'It is vital that we take a stand against violence against women and girls and sexual exploitation is one of the forms such violence takes. 'Vulnerable women and girls are groomed and coerced into selling sex, often without realising the extent to which they are being manipulated. Rhoda Grant, Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands. 'In countries around the world where the buying of sex is criminalised and women are provided with safe exit routes, we see women's lives improving and their safety increasing. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This poll shows that the public recognises the dangers posed to women in the sex industry and that more needs to be done to ensure their safety. 'Women's bodies are not a commodity.' The poll was carried out for CARE for Scotland - Jessica McDowell from the organisation said: 'Pimping sites are vile platforms allowing for the objectification of women, and their exploitation by human traffickers. 'In a dangerous online world where men are being encouraged to abuse and exploit women by people like the Tate brothers, they are even more dangerous than in years gone by.
NBC News
27-05-2025
- NBC News
The cost of weight loss drugs is finally dropping. How low can prices go?
The price of weight loss drugs is falling. Wegovy and Zepbound, which both sell for a list price of more than $1,000 a month, have long been out of reach for people without insurance or whose insurance refused to cover them. Among adults who take the medications, about half say it's difficult to afford the cost, according to a May 2024 survey by the health policy group KFF. Over the past several months, however, drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have introduced lower-cost options. There are some caveats — people must pay out of pocket, or the medication is sold in a vial rather than a prefilled injector pen — but doctors and patients say the changes are long overdue. 'The cost has come down significantly,' said Dr. Peminda Cabandugama, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Self-pay options In March, Novo Nordisk cut the price of all doses of Wegovy by 23% for people paying in cash, dropping it from $650 to $499 per month for uninsured patients or those without coverage. (The list price of $1,349 stayed the same.) It follows a similar move from Eli Lilly, which reduced Zepbound's starter dose to $349 and higher doses to $499 through its self-pay program, Lilly Direct. The discounted doses require patients to manually draw the medication from a vial with a syringe, adding an extra step compared to the prefilled injector pens. Experts point to several forces driving the falling prices: m ounting pressure from the public and Congress on drugmakers' pricing practices; competition from pharmacies, med spas and weight loss clinics offering cheaper compounded versions of the drugs — although many of those are expected to be phased out this month; and the Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of a generic version of Victoza, an older GLP-1 medication that can start at a cost of around $350 for a month's supply. The generic, called liraglutide, is taken daily, unlike Wegovy and Zepbound, which are taken weekly. Cabandugama said many of his patients typically paid around $1,500 a month out of pocket for brand names Wegovy and Zepbound, but in recent months they've been able to get the same doses for around $400 a month or higher doses for around $500. Others switched from compounded versions to the brand-name drugs. 'A lot of patients were thinking, 'I'm paying this amount for compounding. I couldn't make this switch to the standardized versions,'' he said. 'Now, we have the brand-name version of it for around the same cost.' Shakira Grant, 41, of North Carolina, started using Lilly's self-pay program for Zepbound earlier this month after a change in her insurance made her ineligible for the company's coupon savings card. Grant has been on a GLP-1 medication for three years — first Mounjaro, then Zepbound. (Both contain the same active ingredient tirzepatide.) She's now paying $499 a month after previously paying around $550 with the savings card. Without the self-pay program, Grant said she would have had to stop taking the medication because her insurance doesn't cover it, and she couldn't afford the more than $1,000 out-of-pocket cost. It's not the perfect solution, she said. Because Lilly doesn't offer all of its Zepbound doses through Lilly Direct, she's had to lower her dose from 15 milligrams to 10 mg. She has also found the process of drawing the medication up from a vial challenging after years of using prefilled injector pens. She said she wishes it were cheaper but that she's willing to pay the price. 'If there was not a backup option, I would have been left with a tough decision,' Grant said. 'Either I tried to afford $1,000 per month or go without the drug cold turkey after being on it for three years.' Expanded approvals Experts say that patients are beginning to pay less out of pocket not only because of the price drops, but also because of improved insurance coverage. The expanded approval of the drugs for conditions beyond diabetes and weight loss — including heart disease risk, for Wegovy, and obstructive sleep apnea, for Zepbound — has also persuaded more insurers to cover them, Cabandugama said. Elizabeth Kenly, 59, of Graham, North Carolina, said she asked her doctor this month to see if her insurance would cover Zepbound for sleep apnea. Kenly had been using a compounded version of Zepbound, paying around $600 a month. But if her insurance approves the brand name, her monthly cost could drop to as little as $25. 'The savings, if covered by insurance, would be life-changing,' Kenly said. 'I am still paying what is equivalent to a monthly care payment even with the compounded version.' Dr. Louis Aronne, a professor of metabolic research at Weill Cornell Medicine, said he's even noticed in even recent months that pharmacies have started bringing down the prices of the weight loss drugs. Aronne serves as a chief medical adviser for Veru, a company developing an experimental weight loss drug, and was the principal investigator in a Lilly trial for tirzepatide. 'They've started to get really competitive,' he said. Still a high cost Still, barriers remain: $400 to $500 is a significant amount of money for many people. 'You're talking $6,000 a year, and that is still probably more than insurers are paying right now' with discounts, said Dr. David Rind, a primary care physician and the chief medical officer for the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a group that determines fair prices for drugs. 'If insurance is relying on the fact that not covering it will allow people to buy it out of pocket, as a primary care doctor, I have a lot of concerns about that,' Rind said. 'These are actually great drugs,' he said. 'For all my complaining about the price, these are drugs that we should want to give to lots of people, but it's been really hard to see how we can afford them.' Rind said he doesn't expect prices to drop further anytime soon — not until other drugs in development are approved, which likely won't happen for a few more years. The introduction of lower-priced options and expanding insurance coverage aren't always a win for patients. Earlier this month, CVS Caremark announced that it will now cover Wegovy under its pharmacy benefit plans — but it will no longer cover Zepbound. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this month found Zepbound outperformed Wegovy in a head-to-head clinical trial. The move caused a stir on social media among people taking Zepbound who didn't want to switch to Wegovy. 'This decision is purely based on economics, not clinical evidence, and it is not in the best interest of patients,' said Dr. Christopher McGowan, who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina, and is Grant's doctor. Disrupting a patient's treatment can have serious consequences, he added. They may regain weight, see a slowdown in their weight loss or develop new side effects. 'For patients who have seen life-changing results with Zepbound, losing access can feel like a devastating loss, like losing a lifeline,' McGowan said.
Times
22-05-2025
- Times
Alistair Carns' Everest climb using xenon gas is under scrutiny
The veterans minister has denied claims that he is being investigated by the Nepalese government after using a gas that helped him reach the summit of Mount Everest in six days. It had emerged that Alistair Carns and three other former British special forces soldiers who climbed Everest on Wednesday were going to be summoned by the Nepalese government after using xenon gas. Carns, 45, a Royal Marine reservist who spent 24 years in the military before turning to politics, Garth Miller, Anthony Stazicker and Kev Godlington were part of the expedition that was the first commercial ascent to use the gas in pre-expedition treatments. The method is believed to accelerate red blood cell production and reduce the need for the usual long acclimatisation. Typically,
