Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
On 30 June, I will be cycling from Worthing on the 300 mile route to Paris in order to raise money for Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA) Trust.
So why MSA, and what is it?
In 2015, my friend, and now former colleague, Rob Wainwright was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease – this news obviously came as a shock to many of us that know him. However, some months later, Rob’s condition was re-assessed as multiple systems atrophy – a rarer and unfortunately nastier
variant of Parkinson’s. MSA affects around 1 in 100,000 people, compared to 200 in 100,000 for Parkinson’s disease.
Multiple system atrophy is a degenerative neurological disease that affects adult men and women. It is caused by atrophy (or shrinking) of nerve cells in several or multiple areas of the brain, which can result in problems with multiple bodily functions such as speech, movement, balance and autonomic functions of the body, such as blood pressure control.
I’ve known Rob since I started working at KPMG in 2001 – he was one of my mentors in my early days with the firm, and like me, always had a passion for cycling and cars. Over the years Rob and I have raised funds for various charities including the British Heart Foundation and Action Medical research; Rob and I first cycled from London to Paris bike ride in 2008 (see the photo above from that year’s ride) – since being diagnosed with MSA, he now realises that he had early signs of the condition as far back as then.
Hopefully with your kind generosity and the encouragement of my fellow riders*, I will roll into Paris on 3rd July having raised money to provide support to those like Rob who are living with MSA and to fund import research to find a cure for the disease.
The route:
Day 1 – Worthing to Dover
Day 2 – Calais to Abberville
Day 3 – Abberville to Beauvais
Day 4 – Beauvais to Paris
Many thanks
Peter
* I’m joining 10 friends from Worthing (Team KTDA) who are raising money for Chestnut Tree House