Athlete throws suggested objects for charity

Replacing a shotput and javelin for haggis or a teapot, a 15-year-old track and field athlete has taken on a challenge to throw any items suggested to him to raise money for charity.

Emil Friedrich, a three time national champion, has chosen to raise money for Cancer Research UK - Guernsey because he lost his father to leukaemia in 2022, when he was 11-years-old.

As part of the challenge Friedrich asked people who donated to make suggestions, choose one from the previous day's donations to throw and share the video on social media.

He said: "I think a lot of people might have found it a bit weird and I think a lot of people loved the opportunity to give me something ridiculous to throw."

Friedrich said: "I wanted to do something unique, ... I wanted the community to get involved."

He added: "I think that's something that we can all share, ... it's something we can all fundraise for."

He said his first video of him throwing would be put on social media on Tuesday but had already made £365.

"When I first started I was going to do it to £1000 but we're already a third of the way there and I haven't even started," he said.

"We might just play it by ear and see how far we can get before we sort of plateau but I mean any pound raised is a pound for a good cause isn't it."

Friedrich said he loved throwing as much has he did running and athletics but it usually involved a discus, shot put or javelin.

"But now it can be anything ... I've had suggestions for a ball of haggis to a teapot," he said.

He said he believed cancer had a huge impact, especially in small communities like Guernsey.

"To know that I can do something with a small amount of power that I have it means a lot to me," he said.

Friedrich said his father was also an athlete and enjoyed endurance running.

"I know that he was very strong in the last days of his life as much as he found it hard to say goodbye and we found it hard to say goodbye," he said.

He added: "I think it it really highlights the poignance of cancer and what it does to families and people.

"I know that this would be something that he could relate to as much as I can."

"Friends, family, a lot of people just donated without even giving me anything to throw," he said.

"I've seen nothing but positive reactions so far."

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