Karşıyaka resident takes a chilly dip for charity
A KARŞIYAKA resident’s chilly New Year’s Day pool plunge raised 2,000TL to buy food for animals at the Kyrenia Animal Rescue (KAR) centre.
Mick Wells, 59, braved singlefigure temperatures despite suffering a cold when doing laps in his garden pool, while his wife Karen, 56, broadcast the footage live on social media.
Known for his “off-season” swimming, Mr Wells said the sponsored dip had started off as Facebook banter with friends — with one betting 100TL for charity that he would swim on January 1.
“It grew from there. I’d been going to the pool later in the year than most did,” said Mr Wells, who moved from Scunthorpe with his wife in 2016.
He gained support from friends and barmaid Lisa Martin from his local Montenegro Sports Bar, raising 1,100TL alone from customer sponsorships.
Under the watch of his intrigued dog Poppy — one of the couple’s six dogs, three of them rescued — Mr Wells swam for almost two minutes.
The animal-loving couple will present cat and dog food to the KAR centre at Arapköy this week — and Mr Wells added: “We may even adopt one more dog while we’re there.”