Dad Who Ate 124 Kebabs in 31 Days to Raise $1,200 For Charity Says He is "Physically and Psychologically" Damaged
"Kebabathon," leaves its toll.
Not everyone is cut out to be perennial Nathan's Hot Dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. A British engineer and father of two who ate 124 meat sandwiches in a month for charity says he has been "physically and psychologically" harmed by the stunt. Des Breakey, 36, ate four meat wraps daily as part of a "kebabathon" for charity. He raised £1,000 (about $1,200) and consumed 250,000 calories by the time he bent an elbow for his final sandwich on New Year's Eve. Read on to find out just how the Manchester man's monthlong diet went down.
Breakey was not deterred by the holiday from reaching his goal. He skipped traditional Christmas dinner for a kebab. "I have enjoyed it, but it's hurt me physically. I've felt like crap. I'm not getting any fruit, no vegetables, and no nutrition. I couldn't eat anything else," he said. "It was a breeze for the first two weeks. But the last two weeks it got a bit messy, not just physically but psychologically as well."
Breakey began the eating challenge on Dec. 1. This wasn't his first go-round. In 2020, he ate 60 kebabs in one month, raising more than $5,000 for the charity Nerve Tumors UK. This year, he was raising money for Francis House Children's Hospice and committed to eat at least one kebab—a sandwich made with spicy rotisserie meat—from a different shop each day, as supporters contributed donations. "There was pressure on getting there," he said. "I had to do it. I couldn't let them down."
Breakey spent hundreds of dollars of his own money to procure wraps from different kebab shops each day. He ate, on average, four kebabs every night. "I was starving myself all day at work. I would finish at 5pm, and then I would be eating four kebabs," he said. "Sometimes I would be eating them in my mate's car, some on the fly. The quickest I did it in was an hour and a half."
He even gave up his traditional turkey roast at Christmas dinner to ensure he's have room to make that day's goal. "I had kebabs for Christmas," he said. "I went to my mum's. I love prawn cocktails as a starter, so I was gutted. But I didn't want to give in. I was always going to do it."
Breakey says this will be his last eating challenge. "It's very much an accomplishment," he said. "I appreciate the support. But I'm not doing it again. This is my final dance. I'm now retiring."
