Local triathletes raise money for McFarland

MOULTRIE – Pushing their bodies to the limits in one of the most grueling competitions, friends of Max McFarland and his family tackle the Iron Man Triathlon to raise money for his recovery from a paralyzing car crash.

In a twist of fate, a member of the triathlon team — Waylon Stuckey — has a son who was paralyzed in an accident about a year earlier. And Gibbs Stuckey and Max McFarland are best friends.

“My son was involved in an ATV accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. His best friend, which is Max McFarland, is the one that picked the four-wheeler up off of Gibbs. And then, almost a year to the day, Max was involved in a car wreck that paralyzed him,” said Stuckey.

Triathlon team member Heath Wetherington said the outpouring of support when Gibbs was injured resulted in many different fundraisers to help the Stuckeys and they wanted to make sure that Max had the same kind of support.

“Heath and I have been doing triathlons for four years. We’ve done some half Iron Man’s together and our goal was always a full, which doubles the distance,” said Stuckey.

He said that he and Wetherington were training for a full Iron Man, along with Brad Tomlinson, when Gibbs was in the accident. Wetherington said that they told Stuckey that they would do the competition when things had settled down at his house and he was ready to do it.

“About a year. And, then, Max got hurt,” interjected Stuckey.

He said they made the decision to do the Iron Man Florida and finish what they had started before Gibbs’ accident.

“We’re gonna do this thing. We’re gonna finish what we started. And we’re gonna do it for Max. To raise money for Max,” Stuckey said. “Not only was it something that we wanted to do, now, we got a ‘why.’ And if the ‘why’ is strong enough, the ‘how’ is easy.”

He went on to say that the message that they wanted to convey to the two boys was that they can do anything they want to do if they put their mind to it and set their goals.

Wetherington said that their efforts, so far, were to go out to local businesses to see if they would be willing to support the cause.

“And they’ve come out big,” he added.

They want to get the community-at-large involved because, Stuckey said, that he knew that it was a caring community that looked after their own. He said individuals could sponsor them for a dollar a mile or fifty cents a mile.

“Especially, me personally, I know that every dollar helps,” Stuckey said.

Checks can be made out to Max 4 Maxx and mailed to P.O. Box 376, Norman Park, Ga., 31771, Attn: Waylon Stuckey. A Venmo account has also been set-up by Max’s mother, Jade McFarland. It is @Jade-Mcfarland-36.

Iron Man Florida will be held Nov. 2, in Panama City and include three events, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run to the finish line in Pier Park.

Along with Stuckey and Wetherington, the triathletes include Brad Tomlinson, Dusty Braswell, David Brace and Britney Mobley, all from Norman Park.

“It’s a tight-knit family and we’re gonna take care of each other,” Wetherington said. “Our wives and our children, they’ve been supportive behind all of this.”

People can follow the event and track the triathlete’s progress on the Iron Man Tracker app and the finish line will be live on Facebook.

“When you know you’ve got people from your hometown that are tuned-in and watching, it’s not gonna let you quit,” said Wetherington and Stuckey added that it also lets everybody feel involved.