‘Teddy McHuggin’ breaks world record by giving 7,777 hugs in 24 hours!

LONDON - A US man has broken the world record for the most hugs after he gave 7,777 cuddles in 24 hours.

Jeff Ondash, 51, who calls himself ‘Teddy McHuggin’, attempted the feat in an effort to raise funds for heart research, reports Sky News.

He worked the Las Vegas Strip outside the Paris Hotel-Casino for an entire day, sporting a red Nascar-style suit and a wrestling championship style-belt, getting cosy with passers by.

He shared the love at a rate of 324 hugs an hour - about 5 and a half per minute, beating the previous record holder, Dublin’s Siobhan O’Connor, by a full two hugs per minute.

McHuggin, from Canfield, Ohio, already holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records after achieving the most hugs in one hour - 1,205 cuddles.

He now has his sights set on the world’s longest single hug - currently 24 hours and 1 second, as well as breaking his previous two records.

McHuggin aims to raise money for the American Heart Association during February, its Heart month, a cause close to him as both his father and brother have died of heart-related problems.

The hug master says he does not expect Guinness to certify his record for several weeks, as the organisation did not have a judge present at his attempt.

Instead, independent judges who tracked McHuggin will submit affidavits to Guinness, and McHuggin’s daughter, helped to tally the hugs. (ANI)