Runner competing in race to aid friend

0
120
Bob Veillette and Tim Andrew in 2010. –RA ARCHIVE
Bob Veillette and Tim Andrew in 2010. –RA ARCHIVE

NAUGATUCK — Former Naugatuck firefighter Tim Andrew is facing an uphill climb, yet again, to help a friend.

Andrew, 63, is participating in the Mount Washington Road Race in New Hampshire June 18. This year will mark the seventh time he has run the race, which is 7.6 miles long on a course that rises 4,650 vertical feet from start to finish.

Andrew is running in the race to help Naugatuck resident Bob Veillette with his medical needs.

Veillette, the former managing editor for the Republican-American, suffered a brain stem stroke in 2006 that left him paralyzed from the nose down.

“Bob was such a wonderful human being, donating his time for others, such as, playing piano and singing at convalescent homes,” Andrew said.

Veillette, who lives on Timothy Road, was an avid runner before his stroke. Andrew, who lived nearby, often crossed paths with Veillette as they ran around the neighborhood, and the two ran side by side in the Litchfield Hills Road Race in the 1980s.

Donations to help Veillette can be made out to: Bob Veillette Special Needs, and mailed to: Ion Bank, 333 Church St., Naugatuck, CT 06770.