It’s hard to take the simple things, like drinking a cup of tea, for granted after meeting James Crilly, 70.
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As he flicked the kettle on, and shakily reached for the cupboard to find the “best wafer bikkies in the world” he pointed out tea stains on the carpet of his Huskisson home on Friday.
He poured just one cup of tea, his Parkinson’s was affecting him badly, and he didn’t want another spill.
The condition affects his balance; he sways when standing on the spot, and sometimes stumbles backwards when he walks.
Incredibly, James will attempt to walk the Husky Half Marathon on Sunday on August 20.
What has compelled James to walk 21km?
He wants to encourage those who are suffering from Parkinson’s to continue moving forward.
“I am going to do it,” he said.
“Nothing beats me.
“It can only affect you if you let it.”
Jervis Bay businesses have thrown their support behind Jimmy, sponsoring him with various raffle prizes and funds that will be donated to Parkinson’s NSW.
Jimmy hopes to raise awareness about the disease.
“I’m an ex-boxer, I know what to do to get attention,” he said.
“I want people to know what can happen to you.”
In his heyday, the boxer didn’t lose a fight in three years.
“When you don’t lose a fight in three years you become a wee bit conceited,” he said.
“I impressed my backers so much so, they would send letters to show their support, I should have thanked them, but I was a bit full of myself, you see?
“I’m trying to make amends.”
He has confronted people who are quick to judge him and others living with the chronic disease.
“People say, ‘Did the boxing that gave you Parkinson’s?’” Jimmy said.
“For me, I think it was the car accidents.”
In the 1970s, Jimmy was a passenger in two near-fatal car accidents.
“In the worst one my cousin couldn’t recognise me when he found me,” he said.
“My nose ripped open, he said my head looked like a big square box.”
Jimmy’s sponsors: Huskisson Hotel, The Huskisson Drive-In Bottle Shop, Wild Ginger, Stone Grill, NAB bank, World Famous Fish ‘n Chips Huskisson, Angels Bayside Cafe, Huskisson Pharmacy, Vincentia Oportos
