Special Joe Wicks PE session for delayed family after A64 fire

Fitness expert Joe Wicks gave the Murphy family a mini-session after they got stuck in traffic and missed attending a P.E session

Fitness expert Joe Wicks gave three children a special PE lesson after traffic delays caused them to miss one of his events.

Lucy Murphy and her family were heading to "PE with Joe" at Castle Howard but a road closure on the A64 led to long tailbacks.

When they finally arrived, the North Yorkshire event had ended but Wicks held a mini-session just for them.

Mrs Murphy said it was "really sweet" and made the children's day.

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Her children aged four, seven and 11 were big fans of the trainer, known as the Body Coach, and had followed his online PE sessions throughout lockdown, she added.

Wicks was awarded an MBE in 2020 after he became the UK's PE teacher by running free online classes every weekday for children and parents to keep fit during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

When Mrs Murphy saw he was holding outdoor events they had immediately booked tickets for the Castle Howard session.

"We were up early at 07:00 BST and then the accident happened and traffic was at a standstill," she said.

"It was a lot of frustration, we knew straight away we were going to miss out."

Lucy Murphy and her family were among a number of motorists stuck for hours on the A64

A crane fire on the A64 at Tadcaster had prompted a full closure of the road, with the westbound carriageway not opening until about 11:00 BST.

When the family, from Pontefract in West Yorkshire, finally arrived Mr Wicks was still meeting people and signing photographs.

"One of the crew members realised we had missed the session and said they'd see if we could meet Joe," she said.

"When Joe realised we were one of the people who had missed out he said 'we can't have that' and started doing star jumps and all the exercises."

The family enjoyed their few minutes of exercise, despite missing the main event

Mrs Murphy said she appreciated they were not the only people to have been stuck and had not wanted to push in or be singled-out in any way.

However, she said the mini-session with Wicks had made the day more memorable than if things had gone to plan.

"He let our children have that little moment of fun, it was really sweet and so gracious of him.

"It was very kind of him, I think it was only a minute or so, but it made their day."

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