I've raised £1000 to help fund new equipment at the Bostonian Ward, who treated my Dad's cancer and took care of him in the last few weeks of his life.
Organised by Matt Oak
Story
Hi, I'm Matt, the younger one on the right down below. Let me tell you about my Dad, Barry Oak. He was a caring, strong, loving, determined, hardworking, loyal, and helpful person to anyone he met. Sadly, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer almost 3 years ago.
After endless rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, and even an operation to remove his bladder, he was told around 6 months ago that despite all of these efforts, the cancer had spread into his spine and bones.
On 21st March 2024, surrounded by his close family, my Dad lost his battle with cancer and passed away.
Dad loved to ride his bike (some of my earliest memories are of us going on bike rides), and he'd even gotten his bike serviced the month before he passed.
My brother, cousins and I have created 'Four Bloaks on Bikes' and have decided to cycle from Nottingham (where Dad grew up) to Skegness (where he lived before he passed away) and back over 2 days that fall on his birthday weekend of the 6th and 7th of July.
The route we are taking is made up of canals and back roads because Dad loved to spend time rowing canoes and biking down canal paths. We've also planned this route so we are able to ride past the hospital to wave at the staff, get a quick bottle of water and maybe even an IV drip for some of us! 😬
Follow the route we're taking.
We were all touched about how the staff at the Bostonian ward treated my Dad. Whilst we've all seen the adverts for Cancer Research UK, we've chosen to do this ride to raise money for The Bostonian, the ward that helped Dad.
We're documenting this journey as we train and you can see why this could be an absolute nightmare for all of us taking part, and why we need your encouragement right here:
Follow the journey of us getting ready for this ride on YouTube.
To give some context, the Four Bloaks you will be sponsoring are:
— Matt - Barry's son - works in AI and tech, sits at home working on a computer, still doesn't know what kind of bike he owns.
— Tony - Barry's step-son - employed on something to do with trains, rides his bike all the time, could probably rebuild a derailleur with one hand.
— Jason - Barry's nephew - works in real estate for a large pharmaceutical company, bikes often but not as much as Tony.
— Calvin - Barry's eldest nephew - works in a large metropolitan hospital, plays football, owns a bike.
We will do the best we can to train and share our readiness before we embark on the Big Midlands Bike Ride in memory of my Dad.
Thank you so much for reading, and if you can donate, thank you so much,
Matt
