Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Firefighter’s gone extra mile for kids
A FIREMAN completed an extraordinary series of sponsored runs yesterday as he raised £31,500 for a baby unit that saved his friends’ child’s life.
Marc Petters, 41, ran one mile on February 1, two on the second and added a mile a day until finishing an epic 28-miler yesterday.
The dad-of-four, from Sidcup, Kent, is raising money for the Princess Alexandra Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit in Harlow, Essex.
He said: “Long-term family friends Neil and Laura Rowe gave birth to the beautiful Ralph 10 weeks early... the unit gave Ralph the great care and aftercare needed.
“There is so much negativity at the moment and I really wanted to do something positive during lockdown and raise money.”
QMy mother of 82 has had her first Covid-19 jab and has been told that she has to wait 12 weeks for the second one. I’m a bit concerned because I thought that the time between jabs was only three weeks. What do you think? A I’m pretty certain that even with 12 weeks between the two jabs your mum will have strong immunity to Covid-19.
I’m not surprised you’re concerned as the interval between doses has been hotly debated, but the doctor who led the development of the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine,
Professor Andrew Pollard, has described how the two doses came about.
In fact the team originally planned a single one-dose vaccine but within the trial there was a group of volunteers who were given two doses and they ended up with greater immunity. The two-dose regime was adopted to give better and longer protection.
But rest assured there’s high immunity, at least 70%, after the first dose of vaccine so your mum will be well protected while she’s waiting for her second injection.
This tender portrait of Her Majesty has been painted with a great deal of love and respect for Queen Elizabeth by Vaughan Williams, in Merthyr Tydfil. “I’m in my mid-60s now but my grandmother was an artist,” says Vaughan. “The first thing she taught me to draw was the Queen on horseback at the Trooping of the Colour in 1960. “Her talent passed down to a number of her grandchildren and one even made his career in the art world.
“My paintings are mostly portraits. I hold the Queen in very high regard and have had the honour of attending many royal events and have met
Her Majesty.”
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