A CWMBRAN man spent 24 hours straight sketching a photo of Leigh Halfpenny to raise funds for the For Luca campaign.

Mark Everson, 42, didn’t sleep and only occasionally stopped for a short toilet break while sketching the piece.

He went from 3pm on Saturday all the way through to 3pm on Sunday and finished about 75 per cent of the sketch – which normally takes up to 100 hours to complete.

“I’m not too tired,” he said. “I’ve surprised myself as I thought I’d struggle but it’s been fine.

“It’s not finished yet but I’m very happy with how much I’ve done and the standard of it which is good as I am very self-critical.

“The idea just came to me as it’s a bit different and drawing is one of my favourite hobbies.”

Mr Everson raised roughly £2,000 on the day with a Just Giving page and bucket collections and will be auctioning it off once finished, with a bid of £250 already tabled by an impressed onlooker.

“Once I finish it, we’ll hopefully be able to get Leigh to sign it,” added Mr Everson. “Then we’ll auction it off.

“It’s for a great cause and was enjoyable to do.

“I don’t feel like I’ve gone without a night’s sleep, it just feels like I’ve had a very long day at work.” The For Luca campaign aims to raise £1.5 million for youngster Luca Williams who lost his legs to meningococcal septicaemia two years ago, aged three.

The money will pay for special prosthetics for him, which is not available through the NHS.