Eight stitches in his face and a suspected broken wrist failed to stop a chief reporter cycling nearly 1,000 miles for charity.

Peter Devine, from the Stockport Express, braved the summer temperatures to ride from John O’Groats to Lands End in aid for a four-year-old boy left with no limbs after contracting meningitis.

He teamed up with four friends of Harley Slack’s family on the epic journey with donations from the 13-day trek going towards the Express’ £500,000 appeal to buy new limbs for Stockport youngster.

This fundraising mission gathered in £20,000 with the overall fund now sitting at over £450,000.

Peter said: “I’m a regular on the gym bike but I’ve done precious few road miles in my time so I knew the journey would be a tough one.

“My lack of experience was almost certainly behind a rash of crashes in the first week, leaving me with eight stitches in my chin and a suspected broken wrist.

“But the team spirit was strong and we ploughed on and I feel privileged to have shared my first cycle ride with Harley’s family and friends.

“It was long and it was tiring but took in some of the most beautiful landscapes.

“The pedalling was tough at times and the road was often rough with strong head winds, but we gave it our all and that proved enough.”

Peter celebrates arriving at Land’s End

Comments

Ivy Likes (19/08/2009 00:13:08)
Well done Peter. It’s good to know that some of us in this industry of ours are still affected by the stories we cover.