Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am taking part in Huub Track Attaque 2020 , which is a tandem cycling challenge on 8th & 9th February 2020 at the Derby Velodrome.

Why am I supporting SightSupport Derbyshire? Well its taken me almost 7 years, but I am ready to give something back to those that have helped me.

On September 13th 2013 at the age of 55, completely out of the blue, I was struck down with a Stroke! 

I woke up in Derby Hospital on the stroke ward after collapsing at home.

I could hear nurses talking about this bloke that had had a stroke, but didn't realize for several days that it was actually me they were talking about.

I had suffered what is known as a

Homonymous Hemianopia Stroke

which means basically that a tiny blood clot erupted in my head and travelled around my brain and hit the part that controls short term memory and vision, and has left me 50% blind to my right hand side

Over time I have had to re-learn a lot of day to day things we all take for granted, for example learning how to read again, this was tough as I didn't even know where the end of a page was! I had to put into practice a lot of tricks and strategies to assist my brain in remembering even the most basic thing, I even struggled with how do to get to the hospital. This was so difficult, sometimes I couldn't even remember my own name or address!  

Imagine how annoying it is when you meet someone and you can remember almost everything about them, the names of their wife, children, parents etc but not their actual name! 

Also the inevitable bombshell landed! Following a lot of visits to Derby Hospital, the dreaded day came when the doctors told me that my vision would never return and I would never recover my eye sight, so I was labelled as disabled! 

Obviously I had to immediately surrender my driving licence, this was possibly the hardest thing I had to do, as I had driven since I was 17 years old!

Unfortunately my employer wasn't so understanding and after almost 14 years of loyal service it was decided that as "I wasn't the person I used to be!" and at my most vulnerable time I was let go! So I found myself out of work for the first time since I was 22.

Luckily I have an absolutely fantastic family, and we have grown closer after having to adjust our lives, they have all supported me and importantly each other through this absolutely horribly tough time.

Amazingly I found that I could still cycle safely.  My parents treated me to a Brompton folding bike to help me get from A to B, and this has become my number one mode of transport. Since then I have clocked up hundreds possibly even thousands of miles .

After a few months of twiddling my thumbs  I applied for and landed a dream  job at Broxtowe Borough Council.

So to say thank you for the help I received and more importantly to prove something to myself, I have entered this 24 hour cycle race, and I will be cycling on a tandem behind a sighted pilot, and will be in the team doing the first 8 hour slot. full details can be found on the sight support derbyshire web site.

I know we all get asked all the time to give money for worthy causes, so only if you can, please donate, even a little would be massively appreciated, to help my fellow stroke victims in the future to hopefully ensure they get the help and support they will definitely need and totally deserve, because if you check the statistics it could be you or someone you love. 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with  - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity, being the most efficient way to help - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I have just completed my first weeks training and am very happy with my distances so far, but must admit indoor cycling (in the gym) would be really boring without a fantastic play list, Been listening to all the groups that I have seen live, highlight so far is Roxanne by the police. Plenty of great music to go to get me through my training.

Thank you.