When Dad was first diagnosed with leukaemia, the first person to walk in the room was Jane, the MacMillan nurse.  From there she offered support throughout his time in hospital  in that first meeting she said that a cheque would be coming for £350 as a ‘grant’ which everyone gets following diagnosis.  When she left the room and we were gathering ourselves, Mum was already spending it with Dad saying “hang on Fran, nobody gives you anything for free’.  How wrong could he be.  That grant provided for the extra items he needed for his time in hospital, which was unforeseen.  Since then they’ve provided all sorts of emotional support for the family. Instead of flowers for dad’s funeral, the family would love to raise some money so that other families going through their Cancer journey can receive the same support that we have had.

In a few weeks time, on 24th June, as a further fundraiser, I’m going to ride “coast to coast” in a day. This ride will take me from Whitley Bay on the east coast to Ayr in Scotland, and each pedal stroke of the 204 miles will be in memory of Dad and everything he did for us, particularly all the help he gave to members of the family with little electrical jobs that were required.  He’d regularly pull his face about any such request but as Mum says ‘you just have to ask him at the right time’.  And as Dad would always respond, with his usual sarcastic humour, ‘I told you that you’d want me before I wanted you’. This ride is the longest I’ve ever tackled in a day, and any support you can give would be amazing.

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