Prosthetic leg for Brett
So far we've raised over £5000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance which is flippin' amazing - a huge thank you to everyone who has donated, it means so much to Cat and Brett and us, his cycling pals .
We've now decided to switch the fundraising effort over so that Brett and Cat receive the money that is raised. They have both spent their lives helping others and now it is our turn to give back to them and support Brett in his recovery. The money raised will go towards funding a prosthetic leg for Brett and will be one huge step toward getting him back on his bike and out in those hills again!
We've gone big with our target because the reality is, a prosthetic leg that is going to allow Brett to cycle again isn't cheap (£20,000+) and we'd love nothing more than to have him out cycling with us again, as soon as possible.
So come on folks, let's do this!
Why?
On 17th July 2021, following a freak cycling accident which resulted in Brett having to have his right leg amputated above the knee, the Air Ambulance saved his life. We will be forever indebted to them for this.
The Challenge? Everesting.
It seems only fitting, as his cycling pals, that we take on a big cycling challenge to raise as much money as possible toward funding a prosthetic leg for Brett and getting him back out cycling with us!
Our challenge is simple - cycle up and down a single hill until you have accumulated the height of Everest (29,029ft). Yes, it is going to be tough. Yes, there will be times when we will question whether or not we can do it but it wouldn't be a Brett-approved challenge if not!
17th July 2021 - Wales in a Day
It's still hard to put into words what happened that day but I'll give it a go.
On 17th July 2021, 6 of us set off on a wee challenge to cycle Wales in a Day - 185 miles and 16,500 ft of ascent. We met down in Chepstow on the Friday and travelled North to Caernarfon via coach ready for an early start on Saturday. As the 'cool' kids, we took over the back row and spent 6+ hours chatting about the day ahead. It was eventful from the start with our bikes not arriving until 11pm, Adie misplacing his chain (quite a crucial bit of kit!) and Brett forgetting his tent poles (not to mention reviews of the place we ordered our pizzas from...), but none of us had any idea what was about to happen.
5 of us (Andy, Matt, Kev, Adie and I) set off at 4 am and pootled out past Caernarfon castle under moonlight ready to tackle our first big hill of the day - Pen-y-Pass. We thought we might at least make it over the first hill before being caught by Brett. Having set off an hour behind us, he sailed effortlessly past us halfway up said hill - absolutely awesome! It looked like he had found a guy of similar ability and they were set in for a speedy traverse of Wales (with a long wait for us at the end!).
We knew nothing of what had happened until we crossed the finish line 17 hours after setting off. Brett has had a serious accident and been airlifted to hospital, we were told - no, this can't be happening. At 120 miles he collided with a car carrying a trailer. Something was protruding from the trailer, caught the back of his right knee and severed his artery. The events that followed are simply miraculous.
The motorbike which was on the trailer, travelling in a remote part of the Welsh countryside, was being delivered to an ex SAS Army medic. Within minutes of the accident, he arrived and put a tourniquet on Brett's leg to stem the blood flow. The Air Ambulance landed within 15 minutes and airlifted him to Stoke Hospital. To put things into perspective, without these people, Brett wouldn't be here. It is just unimaginable.
For days, there was no pulse in his right foot. He had several operations to try and mend his artery but unfortunately his damaged leg had been slowly poisoning his body and the surgeons were left with no option but to amputate above his right knee.
In true Brett style, he took the news better than most "obvs it's a bit of a shitter but I'm just not wired up in any way to get upset about these things. Onwards and upwards with a whole new set of challenges to take on."
Brett and Cat's ability to battle on so bravely has been nothing short of inspirational. Their positivity is infectious, and we owe so much to them for keeping us all going. Let's go big here and raise as much money as we can to get Brett back on his bike and to say thank you to Brett and Cat for being selflessly brilliant! We love you.
All our love, hugs and chocolate eclairs, your cycling pals xxx
