Wheelchair-bound teenager Jack Duffy proves nothing can hold him back

Jack Duffy may be confined to a wheelchair, but he is not letting that stop him from hitting the road as part of a gruelling 250km trek to raise money for children with disabilities.

Jarrod Lawler

less than 2 min read

November 19, 2021 - 8:03PM

Tasmania

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A TASMANIAN wheelchair-bound teenager and his father have just completed a gruelling 250km trek across Tasmania and will finish their week-long adventure with the world’s toughest half marathon on Sunday.

Chris Duffy and his 15-year-old son Jack – who has cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia – have trekked from George Town to Hobart over the past six days and will finish off their exhausting week on Sunday when they take on the Point to Pinnacle and climb over 1200m to reach the summit of Mt Wellington.

Jack Duffy with his team, from left, Sidney, Timmy, Natalie and Margot Bristow, Jack’s parents Chris and Erin Duffy, Xavier Duffy, support worker Josh Britton and Jamie Duffy. Picture: Mireille Merlet

The gruelling endurance challenge is a fundraising event for Just Like Jack, a charity Mr Duffy founded in 2017 to raise money for children with disabilities and to show children with disabilities that they can still be adventurous.

Mr Duffy said over $20,000 had been raised so far from the challenge and that he was touched by the community support.

Chris and Jack during a previous challenge. Picture: Supplied

“There’s been some amazing people that have been pulling over on the highway and jumping out of their cars and saying ‘hello’ to Jack and congratulating him on what he’s doing and it was beautiful,” Mr Duffy said.

“It lifts our spirits each time someone pulls over and all the beeps from all the cars and trucks going past was really heartwarming.

“Jack has an ability to reach out to people and pull their heart strings and the whole point of this is to show that kids like Jack can do these amazing adventures and there’s nothing stopping anyone else whether you have different abilities or not.”