A 31-year-old Royal Navy flight commander has raised nearly £4,000 for Help for Heroes while attempting to set a new world weightlifting record.
Rob Guest, originally from Chesterfield but now with 815 Naval Air Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton, challenged himself to deadlift a staggering 600,000kg in a 24-hour period at BMB Fitness in Yeovil.
Despite fatigue prevented him from reaching his target, he was full of praise for his family, friends and gym members who had donated and supported him throughout.
“The emotion after 24 hours of deadlifting is gratitude,” said Mr Guest.
“The community here at the gym has provided me with not only a physical location, but also a community of selfless individuals who are willing to give their time, resources and knowledge to help me make this fundraising attempt a reality.
“We didn’t reach the target we were hoping for, but we managed to work through the full 24 hours, ending with the whole gym getting involved in the last hour, and managed to raise more than £3,000 for Help for Heroes.
“So, gratitude is the overwhelming emotion.”
He added: “We realised we weren’t going to make the target around midnight, 15 hours into the attempt.
“We were on track for 15 hours. The accumulation of fatigue over hours 12 to 15 meant that I was unable to bend over to pick up the bar.
Mr Guest’s JustGiving page is currently on £3,759 Picture: Dave Bowers/Help for Heroes
“We spent a lot of time trying to recover from that which lasted around three hours, taking us to 3am, and we slowly managed to get back into a routine.
“But it was never going to be enough time to make up what we lost between midnight and 3am.
“My target changed then to just being able to complete the full 24 hours without getting an injury.
“Ultimately, however, it’s not about a world record, it’s about raising money for a very worthy cause: Help for Heroes. And I thank everybody who has kindly donated to our total, which is continuing to rise.”
Mr Guest still managed an impressive total of 446,970kg (more than 70,385 stone) – equivalent to more than 82 adult African elephants.
It means the current 24-hour deadlift world record, remains with Nick Riding, from Reading, recorded in 2022 at 580,220kg.
Rhys Edwards, Help for Heroes’ community fundraising manager for Somerset, said: “Rob’s efforts in this challenge were astonishing.
“He pushed himself to the limits to raise money for the benefit of former members of the services.
“I know his family and friends are enormously proud of him – as are we – and he should be proud of himself, too.
“We are hugely grateful to him and his supporters as the demand for our services continues to increase year on year. Without people like Rob and his supporters we wouldn’t be able to provide the support we do.”
Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps them live well after service.
The charity helps veteran families to recover and get on with their lives.
It has already supported more than 31,000 people and won’t stop until every veteran gets the support they deserve.
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