Comedian Paul Duncan McGarrity is fundraising for the Whittington Hospital – after docs there helped him recover from a series of swordfighting injuries.
The comedian, who lives in Muswell Hill, is donating the proceeds from his Monday shows at the Edinburgh Festival to thank the hospital for “putting him back together” after accidents suffered while taking part in full armour medieval combat.
Paul sustained the unusual injuries while preparing for A Practical Guide to Attacking Castles, a show that draws on his background in archaeology.
He told the Ham&High: “I was researching the show, and got injured doing medieval combat, with swords. It’s a bit like doing MMA [mixed martial arts] with armour on.
“The people at the Whittington deserve great credit for putting me back together after a couple of sword injuries.
“The staff there were superb. I had to go back for things like hand therapy for a while, and at every visit they would ask me to fill in a form. There are only so many times you can tell them ‘I did it in a sword fight’ before you feel like you have to give them some money.”
Paul added: “We did the first one on Monday and raised over £200 for them, and we’ll be trying to break that record over the next couple of weeks. It’d be great if people could look out for us.”
A spokesperson for Whittington Health’s charity said: “We were delighted when we heard that Paul was being so generous.
“The Whittington Charitable Funds uses the money it receives to improve and upgrade equipment and facilities across Whittington Health for the benefit of all our patients, visitors, colleagues and the wider community, so the money that Paul raises from his shows will be put to very good use.
“Although it is usually polite to tell a performer to break a leg, in Paul’s case it might be safer for us simply to wish him all the best with the rest of his Edinburgh shows.”
Paul’s run at Edinburgh continues every day until the festival ends on August 26 in the Mata Hari room at the city’s Espionage venue at 12.30pm.
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