At 104 years old, most people would expect to be slowing down.
But Oak Bay, B.C., resident, John Hillman, is not quite ready to do that yet.
For the fourth consecutive year, Hillman will be walking around the courtyard of his Carlton House home for 10 days, raising money for Save the Children’s emergency fund.
When he was 101, he walked 101 laps; when he was 102, he walked 102 laps; when he turned 103, he walked 103 laps and now he wants to walk 104 laps.
“My birthday was coming up on the 18th of March of this year, 104 years old and they gave me the dates for the first to the 10th of May,” Hillman told Global News.
“I’m doing so many laps a day and that should complete me for 104 laps.”
Hillman will start his walk every morning at 10:30 a.m.
He has lived in Canada for the past 23 years but was born on March 18, 1919, in Newport Mon South Wales.
He served in the Second World War as a wireless operator with the Royal Air Force from 1937 to 1949, earning medals of recognition for service in four wartime campaign areas as well as two years in Great Britain, namely: France 1939-40; North Africa 1942-43; Italy 1943-44; and Burma 1944-46.
Hillman said he was first inspired to raise money by Capt. Tom Moore in England, who was also a Second World War veteran.
He walked into the hearts of a nation in lockdown as he shuffled up and down his garden to raise money for healthcare workers.
Captain Tom, as he became known in newspaper headlines and TV interviews, set out to raise 1,000 pounds for Britain’s National Health Service by walking 100 laps of his backyard. But his quest went viral and caught the imagination of millions stuck at home during the first wave of the pandemic.
Donations poured in from across Britain and as far away as the United States and Japan, raising some 33 million pounds ($40 million).
Moore died at the age of 100 after testing positive for COVID-19.
Hillman said he is going to do his best to raise as much money as he can.
He said he wanted to raise money for Save the Children’s emergency fund after seeing so many children around the world suffering from wars, the pandemic, losing their families and forced displacement.
“I hope to raise my total of $104,000,” Hillman said. “But if I can go higher than that, I would love to go to a million. But that now depends entirely upon the response I’m going to get from the public.”
And so far, the public has loved helping Hillman reach his goal.
“The public here in Canada are fantastic,” he said. They have come up with money at every turn I’ve asked for. And really, I’m being greedy by asking for more. But I still want more for those kids because there’s millions of children who need our help. I’ve had my life and I’m looking. forward to helping some little kids along the way.”
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch was also at Hillman’s inaugural walk on Monday and said he is inspiring.
“I just really appreciate what John does,” he added. “This is incredible, at his age to be out there and just caring about the future of the world and taking care of children. It’s remarkable.”
When asked what the secret is for making it to 104, Hillman said he doesn’t know.
“There is no secret,” he said. “I don’t know the secret. I tell everybody the same story. I lived 104 years, I’ve suffered the same illnesses that most other people will do in the same period of time. During the war, I had an angel sitting on each shoulder and I came through it without any stigma or any sign of injury. But … I have suffered a little bit since, but I have no reason for being a 104, no reason at all, except I’m living and I continue to live until I pass on.”
As for returning next year with 105 laps?
Hillman said, “You never know your luck.”
Anyone can donate to Hillman’s cause online.
— with files from The Associated Press