Full Contact Performance Centre group raises £2,000 for friend Paul Honey

The Marine Fit group from Full Contact Performance Centre

A Marine Fit group from the Full Contact Performance Centre, Castleton, has raised nearly £2,000 for Paul Honey, who spent two weeks in a coma after being rushed to hospital on Christmas Day.

Mr Honey was feeling ill with flu symptoms on Christmas Eve 2016, and was rushed to Royal Oldham Hospital after waking up on Christmas morning struggling to breathe. He didn’t respond to initial treatment from hospital staff and his family were told to expect the worst.

However, doctors finally diagnosed Paul with a severe form of viral pneumonia and operated using an ECMO machine, which is normally used for children, to save Paul’s life. He was put in a coma and moved to Wythenshawe Hospital, where he woke up last week, 11 January. Now, friends say he may return home as early as tomorrow, Thursday 19 January.

Andy Tyson, a Marine Fit coach at the Full Contact Performance Centre where Paul was a member, said when Paul’s Marine Fit group found out about his condition there was an ‘overwhelming force’ to help.

The group set up a fundraising page and set about organising an event at the Flying Horse Hotel on Sunday (15 January).

Over 150 attended the fundraising event which had a DJ, a three-tier raffle, and face painting for children. Mr Tyson said total raised from the event and the fundraising page is close to £2,000.

Mr Tyson said: “Everyone at the gym and in the wider Rochdale community has been brilliant. My office has been flooded with donated raffle gifts, and everyone in our Marine Fit group specialised in different things, so we had tickets and banners made really quickly.

“Ben Boothman at the Flying Horse kindly gave us their function room for free and 10% of the day’s takings. Singer Ste Kelly provided the entertainment and also offered his services for free.

“The response has been unbelievable. You don’t realise how kind people are until things like this happen and everyone comes together. I think people’s kindness goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Paul's mum Trisha attended a recent training session to thank everyone individually for their help.”