A group of local businessmen delivered a cheque for £12,000 to Piam Brown Ward, the paediatric haematology and oncology ward at Southampton General Hospital, following their 270-mile ride along the infamous Sarn Helen Trail from North Wales to South Wales.
The team of five dedicated riders took on the epic ride to raise funds for the ward where Emily Collins was treated for bone cancer. Emily’s father Stephen and brother Andrew, both from Southampton, instigated the ride after being inspired by the specialist care that Emily received.
The five ‘core riders’ cycled from Conway, North Wales, over Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and the Gower Peninsula to finally reach Worms Head, South Wales eight days later, joined by five other colleagues along the way.
Andrew Collins said, “270 miles doesn’t sound much does it? But the severity of the terrain and cold wet weather made it very difficult indeed.”
“As you can imagine, only six months training enabled a bunch of unfit social cyclists to complete one of the UK’s most demanding off road trails”.
Father, Stephen Collins added, “Watching Emily, my teenage daughter fight an epic battle against bone cancer, suffer the pain of major orthopaedic surgery, learn to walk again and overcome multiple organ failure and a serious heart condition has truly humbled me to a degree that I never thought possible. Her courage, tenacity and determination have been an inspiration to me, our family and friends and nothing the Sarn Helen Trail threw at us compared to the challenges that Emily and many other children like her experience every day on the Piam Brown Ward.”
Emily Collins joined the families of the five riders, to welcome them into Worms Head.
Rider Mike Farrel said, “It was an emotional moment to ride around the corner to find our wives, girlfriends and families waving a banner to welcome us over the finish line, and they even gave us a medal to commemorate our achievement”.
Money raised from the challenge will go to Southampton Hospital Charity’s Piam Brown Ward Fund to benefit patients and their families on the specialist regional unit which treats children with all types of childhood cancers, caring for patients from a day old to 16 years of age.
Posted on Wednesday 27 October 2010