John Hillman, the 101-year-old walking daily laps in the courtyard of his Oak Bay retirement home, has surpassed his ambitious fundraising goal.
The centenarian has already raised more than $115,000 as of Saturday at 7 p.m., smashing his goal of raising $101,000 for 101 laps. The money raised will go to Save the Children Canada’s emergency relief fund.
The Second World War veteran completed his 35th lap Saturday morning.
Hillman’s daughter, Lynn McDiarmid, said her father is amazed by the support he has received.
“He’s totally, what we would say in the U.K., gobsmacked,” she said. “He’s absolutely thrilled.”
Hillman has upped his daily walk to 10 laps from five each morning, putting him on course to complete his challenge in a week.
McDiarmid cheers her father on every morning at the retirement home. She has to talk to him before his walk, because afterwards he’s busy with media interviews. “I don’t think he’s got time for us, in the nicest possible way,” she said jokingly.
Hillman’s story has become so popular that staff at Carlton House of Oak Bay have created a process for handling media requests.
The Second World War veteran was inspired by Capt. Tom Moore, a 100-year-old veteran who raised $55 million for the U.K.’s National Health Service by walking 100 laps of his garden.
