DES MOINES, Iowa (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A man in Iowa is working so hard to raise money for cancer research he's actually worked his hands raw.

"My left hand is completely gone, I can't hold on to a bat so we've come up with this little concoction to keep my hand on the bat so I can hold on to it," said Christian James.

On one of the hottest days of the year Christian James picked up his bat and started swinging. He took on the task of racking up 5,000 hits in just 24 hours.

It is all to raise awareness and money for colorectal cancer.

"Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer. [It's] not sexy, you don't hear much about it the tests are expensive. Catching it early is important," said James.

James got a break every 20 minutes to drink water and get checked out.

He says it may have been painful, but it's nothing compared to what cancer patients deal with every day.

In the end he raised more than $30,000 for cancer research.