A heroic firefighter has pounded the pavements for an epic 19 hours in a bid to raise cash for a youngster who has muscular dystrophy.

Dean Woodburn tackled the 100km run from Richmond in London to Brighton seafront in honour of youngster Stanley Newman.

Little Stanley, six, suffers from a rare form of the progressive muscle wasting condition which is gradually weakening him.

Dean has known Stanley and his family for a number of years as he works with Stanley’s dad, Rob, on the same watch at Clacton fire station.

The 45-year-old of Coggeshall Road, Halstead, took to the start line on Saturday morning.

“I was struggling to walk on Sunday - it was very hard work,” he said.

“We were running and walking in the 25 degree heat, storm and rain so it was a little bit of everything.

“There was so many crowds to keep me going and I was talking to people all the way round - I’ve met so many people doing it.

“I ran the first 50k but I walked a little bit of the rest but it was really hard.”

Dean said the most difficult part of the challenge was keeping going through the volatile weather.

“I just kept on counting the kilometers down and keeping my mind on other stuff,” he added “But I never felt like giving up but a lot of people had to stop and couldn’t finish it.

“It was brutal and you don’t realise that until you put your body through it. I was getting loads of calls from the lads at the fire station saying ‘come on Dean’.”

Dean has raised £1,000 to go towards Stanley’s Oasis to fund a state-of-the-art accessible garden with a therapy room and hydrotherapy tub.

“It was brilliant it was one of those things when you finish it you think it was definitely worth it and I’ve done it, “ he added.

“I don’t know if I’ll do it again - I said that I wouldn’t but who knows.

“I wouldn’t have taken on the challenge if I wasn’t doing it for Stanley - it’s definitely an achievement.”