Hundreds Run Steps At Gillette To Help Disabled Veteran
FOXBORO (CBS) -- Some 600 people huffed and puffed up the stairs at Gillette Stadium Sunday morning, raising money to build a home for a veteran who was severely wounded in Afghanistan.
First, they did push-ups, then they took the steps of the lower bowl--all for Cpl. Roger Rua.
Cpl. Rua's spine, femur, and sternum were fractured when an explosive device hit the vehicle in which he was riding.
The participants, who walked, jogged, or ran the stairs for a group called Stairs4RTroops, were trying to raise $430,000--the average amount of money it takes to build a home for a disabled veteran in Massachusetts.
It wasn't a race, but Travis St. Peter of Attleboro finished first.
"It gets to you--so many stairs!" he told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope. "My quads are on fire right now."
St. Peter said he took part in the event to help give back to the troops.
"A friend of ours goes to the same gym, he told us about this," St. Peter said. "[Rua's] in a transition home right now. So any way we can give back--my wife's out there doing it too right now."
Cpl. Rua said in a release that the money would allow him to focus on his career and education, rather than his mortgage.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports
