Aelod o dîm Coleg Menai yn cwblhau cyfres o heriau i godi arian dros elusennau

Mae Tony Fitzmaurice, aseswr yn yr adran dysgu seiliedig ar waith yn adran Lletygarwch ac Arlwyo'r coleg, yn rhedwr brwd ac fe gwblhaodd nifer o heriau athletaidd.

Yn 2019, cafodd Maisy, merch 10 oed Tony, ddiagnosis o Ganser celloedd cenhedlu'r ofari, cam 4. Yn dilyn misoedd o gemotherapi a sawl llawdriniaeth, derbyniodd Maisy newyddion ardderchog bod y canser wedi mynd!

Eglurodd Tony: "Yn ystod ei salwch, cawsom gymorth gan nifer o elusennau, sefydliadau a phobl eraill gyda nifer o bethau gwahanol i wneud ein bywyd yn haws. Mi wnes i addewid bryd hynny y baswn i'n mynd ati i godi arian mewn rhyw ffordd neu'i gilydd dros yr elusennau a sefydliadau a gefnogodd Maisy."

Mae dau o heriau mwyaf diweddar Tony yn cynnwys cwblhau her 4x4x48 Goggins a hanner marathon Ynys Môn.

Dywedodd: "Ar ôl gorffen gwaith dydd Gwener 4 Mawrth, dechreuais gymal cyntaf Her Goggins a rhedeg 4.4 milltir bob 4 awr, a pharhau â'r patrwm tan 4am bore dydd Sul. Yna, es i i Borthaethwy i redeg yr hanner marathon. Ac mi wnes i hyn ar ôl tua dwy awr o gwsg."

Dechreuodd Tony godi arian yn ôl ym mis Mawrth 2021 gan gwblhau ei her Goggins cyntaf a chodi £2,600 dros Ymchwil Canser. Yna aeth i redeg ym Marathon Lerpwl a chodi £920 dros Sefydliad Owen McVeigh. Cododd ei her fwyaf diweddar dros £560 dros Ysbyty Plant Alder Hay. I grynhoi, mae wedi codi dros £4,000 dros nifer o elusennau gwahanol ers mis Mawrth diwethaf.

Gofynnwyd iddo sut roedd yn teimlo ar ôl cwblhau ei her ddiweddaraf ac meddai Tony: 'Dydw i erioed wedi teimlo mor flinedig yn gorfforol ac yn emosiynol, a dw i wedi profi sawl her galed pan oeddwn i'n aelod o'r lluoedd. Ond yr hyn roeddwn i'n meddwl amdano bob amser yn ystod yr heriau oedd y rheswm dros wneud hyn, ac roeddwn i'n dweud wrth fy hun 'dwyt ti ddim yn gwybod beth gelli di gyflawni hyd nes byddi di'n gwthio dy hun tu hwnt i dy ffiniau'.

Dechreuodd Tony ar her bersonol ei hun yn 2020. Yn dilyn cyhoeddi'r cyfnod clo, dechreuodd fwynhau cerdded rhagor ac fe drodd hyn yn frwdfrydedd dros redeg. Collodd dros chwe stôn yn ystod y cyfnod hwnnw a gwyrdroi clefyd diabetes oedd arno.

Ar ôl canfod cariad newydd at redeg, eglurodd Tony: "Roeddwn i'n gwybod o'r eiliad honno fy mod i'n barod i ddechrau cyflawni heriau i godi arian dros nifer o'r elusennau/sefydliadau roddodd gymorth i ni yn ystod salwch Maisy."

Fydd o ddim yn aros yn segur yn hir, mae Tony eisoes yn chwilio am syniadau ar gyfer ei her codi arian nesaf.

Keen runner Tony Fitzmaurice, a Work-based Learning assessor within the college’s Hospitality & Catering department, successfully took on many athletic challenges.

Back in 2019, Maisy - Tony's 10-year-old daughter was diagnosed with stage four Ovarian Germ Cell Cancer. Months of chemotherapy and several operations later, Maisy thankfully beat the odds and was given the all clear!

Tony explained: “During her sickness, many charities, foundations and people helped out with a number of different things to make our life easier. I made a promise to myself that I would do some kind of fundraising for the charities and foundations that helped Maisy out.”

Two of Tony’s most recent challenges involved completing the Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge and the Anglesey Half Marathon, over the same weekend!.The Goggins challenge involves running four miles, every four hours, for 48 hours.

He said: “After finishing work on Friday 4 March, I started the first leg of the Goggins Challenge and ran 4.4 miles every 4 hours, not stopping until 4am on Sunday morning. I then went to Menai Bridge to run the half marathon. All of this was done after roughly two hours of sleep.”

Tony started fundraising back in March 2021 when he completed his first Goggins Challenge, raising £2,600 for Cancer Research. He then went on to complete the Liverpool Marathon, raising £920 for the Owen McVeigh Foundation. His latest challenge raised over £560 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. So, he has raised over £4,000 for different charities since last March.

When asked how he felt after completing his latest challenge, Tony said: ‘I've never been so physically and emotionally drained and I was in some tough situations whilst in the forces. But in my mind I kept thinking about why I was doing the challenge and I was saying to myself, ‘you don't know what you are capable of until you push yourself past what you think are your limits’.”

Tony also took on his own personal challenge back in 2020. Following the lockdown announcement, he started to enjoy walking more, which eventually turned into a passion for running. This helped him to lose six stones and reverse his diabetes.

Following his new found love of running, he explained: “It was from that point I knew I was in a place where I could start doing challenges to raise money for as many charities/ foundations that helped during Maisy's illness.”

He isn’t resting for long, as Tony is already brainstorming ideas for his next fundraising challenge.