Cancer sufferer cycles 1,001 miles for charity
A POLICE officer and cancer sufferer has raised nearly £7,000 by cycling 1,001 miles to show his gratitude to the nurses who looked after him in his hour of need.
Paul Blackburn, 46, spent 14 days cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats and the money raised will be donated to McMillan Cancer Support.
Paul lives in North Shields with wife Julie and daughter Rebecca, 15, and they also have two sons, Craig, 19, and Daniel, aged 21.
In August 2007 Paul was diagnosed with a rare form of head and neck cancer and had two operations followed by aggressive treatment with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
"It was a bit of a shock as I have always been fit and healthy," he said.
During his treatment Paul was looked after by MacMillan nurses and by doing the bikeride he decided to give something back.
So on May 31 he set off from Land's End, cycling on average 60 to 70 miles a day until he reached John O'Groats last Sunday, 14 days later.
"We were trying to stick to little roads and we got a little lost in Cornwall and ended up doing 94 miles the first day," he said.
"After that we were really getting into it but he first two to three days were really hard, getting the body adjusted to cycling for nine to
ten hours a day.
"One lad from my shift came with me for the first day and Gary, my old supervisor at work decided to stick with it and do the whole ride with me.
"The lads from work met up with us on day six between Tebay and Canonby and another lad, Jason joined us for the last part through Scotland.
"We met people on the route as well, we got a lot of support from police colleagues throughout the route and many helped us transport our non essential stuff which was a great help.
"The only thing that went against us was the north-easterly winds we had for 14 whole days which meant we had to make a little more of an effort.
"We did two of the hardest routes over the Grampian mountains and the
Cairngorms but the ride down was fantastic.
"The final day was cold, wet and miserable and I arrived at John O'Groats at 5 o'clock that evening with Gary and Jason about an hour behind.
"It was a fantastic experience but I wouldn't do it again in a hurry, I did it because I wanted to give something back."
Paul's cancer still is not cured and he has to go for regular check-ups, but he is back on full duty as a police officer in Northumbria Police's operations department.
He also has to drink water constantly to keep his throat lubricated after the treatment damaged his saliva glands.
"My follow up appointments have been very positive," he said.
"The tumour they removed was secondary and they still haven't found the primary one but they think that either my body has dealt with it or the aggressive treatment will have got it."
He added: "I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us."
Please visit www.justgiving.com/paulblackburn1 to help Paul raise even more money for MacMillan.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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