Dan cycles from the Lake District to Kent in just two days, raising over £16,000 for St Christopher’s
Flanked by a hardened endurance cyclist and a man with an iron will, Dan Fletcher, knew he’d have to call on every last ounce of the inner strength shown by his wife Beth during her six-year cancer journey, as he rode from the Lake District to Chislehurst, Kent, in just two days to raise money for St Christopher’s.
While Dan, 49, considers himself fit, he admits to being a novice cyclist and has completed little to no training due for the most part to caring for Beth until her death at home under the care of St Christopher’s in January. The marketing executive was absolutely determined to complete the 450km journey from Kendal to Chislehurst.
Speaking ahead of his ride, Dan says “When we planned the ride back in October, I said to my friend Tom and my brother-in-law John that I would give it a right good attempt. Beth was so tough and went through so much. Thinking about that might not get me up every hill but I reckon it will keep pushing me to turn my legs most of the way.
“My apprehension is the timeline. If it was three days rather than two, I’d be a lot more confident.”. The fundraising challenge was Tom’s idea, hatched after he cycled from London to Beth’s parents’ home and back in a day last summer to raise awareness for Bowel Cancer UK.
Former PE teacher Beth, 49, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 2019. After six years of numerous operations and countless rounds of treatment, doctors at Guy’s Hospital referred her to St Christopher’s – a move she and Dan didn’t initially welcome.
“We had no real knowledge of St Christopher’s and for us we thought hospice just equated to the end. I remember Beth being really upset. But we very quickly realised that it was so different to our perception and our experience was so positive.
“The doctor who we saw spent so much time with us listening to Beth to understand the background and to get a full picture of what she needed and wanted to feel better.”
Dan says that thanks to the team from St Christopher’s the transformation in Beth over just two weeks was so great that a family holiday he’d booked two months earlier and had given up hope of enjoying, became a reality as he, Beth and daughters Emma, 17, and Sophie, 15, spent three days on a Greek island.
“We all look back on that as a miracle we never thought would happen, and it was all down to the care and support and confidence that the doctors and nurses gave Beth.”
Amazingly, despite her condition deteriorating considerably, that wasn’t the last holiday the four of them shared.
“Beth was suffering with breathlessness and feeling really unwell in November. St Christopher’s stepped in as a superpower. The doctor locked on to what Beth really wanted but that feared she wouldn’t be able to do, which was to join all her family for Christmas in France. It was a really important milestone for Beth and the doctor appreciated this.”
After a two-week admission to the inpatient unit at Sydenham, Beth, with positive input from a psychologist and the rest of the clinical team felt sufficiently confident to make the 12-hour drive.
Dan says the week with Beth’s parents and his sisters was very important to her and would have been impossible without St Christopher’s all-round support. Even the apparently small things, like a haircut in the hospice, made a big difference, he remembers.
“She felt pampered for the first time in ages. It was one of those things that added up to so much more than it appears on the surface and made Beth feel like a different woman.”
Beth died at home in Chislehurst two weeks after they returned from France.
“We always felt supported by St Christopher’s and like Beth was in the best possible hands. We talked about what it might have been like without St Christopher’s and just couldn’t imagine it. Ultimately, a lot of that year under the care of St Christopher’s was very good, as good as it possibly could have been and we are super grateful.”
It’s partly that gratitude that will be driving Dan on when he sets off from Beth’s sister’s house in Kendal on 3 April on the way to Leicester where he’ll also be joined for 20 miles by her 84-year-old father, Peter Swift, before heading on to London the following day.
“Beth always encouraged us to embrace the good things in every day. In every kilometre I’ll be appreciating something nice to look at and something good to chat about with Tom and John.”
Speaking after his bike ride, Dan says “It was an incredible 39 hours, lots of varied landscapes, terrains, conditions, refuel spots and conversations. Our support crews were amazing, my sister in law, nephew and my youngest daughter for the majority but also Tom’s wife and two kids provided freshly baked cookies and moral support for the Kent to Northampton stretch.
Storm Dave threw everything he could at us, including wind gusting around 60mph and torrential rain, but we stuck together, focused on the job and thought of Beth and everything she had to cope with and how she always found the upside, the fun and the strength to get on with it. We arrived at our destination at around 9pm and celebrated with a pint and a lasagne and cake cooked by our niece.
Beth’s fundraising total has exceeded £16,000 for St Christopher’s now, so we’re really pleased.”
If you’d like to support Dan’s fundraiser, now at over £16,000, you can do so here.
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