In November 2010 my Dad was diagnosed with Pleural Mesothelioma, which is a rare and particularly vicious incurable form of cancer that affects the lungs; Asbestos exposure is the cause of 90% of cases (my Dad’s included).
Over Christmas 2010 he went in to Papworth Hospital for an operation that was hopefully going to ease some of the symptoms of his condition; he ended up staying in for over a month.
In return for the great care that Papworth Hospital gave my Dad I came up with the rather foolish idea to cycle 100 metres for every Inpatient they treat over the course of an average year to help raise money for Papworth Hospital Charity, so that they may continue their amazing work. While this initially may not sound that difficult, when you consider that they receive 22400 inpatients annually, this equates to cycling 2240km (1391.8 miles).
The Bike Ride
Due to a knee injury it took two attempts to complete the task I set myself. In the end I covered a distance of 1537miles from Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire to Geneva, Switzerland and back again. For my thoughts on the bike tour as well as a few interesting facts check out my post trip blog post, titled 'The End (For Now...)'