The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A Sutton Bridge boy who is recovering from brain cancer treatment will get a well-deserved holiday with funds raised by a country-spanning bike ride this Saturday.
Family and friends of 11-year-old Riley Watts will set off from Wales in the early hours of Saturday morning and arrive back at Sutton Bridge on Saturday evening.
Riley Watts (11) with dad Shane Watts and mum Emma Kelly celebrating Riley’s final chemotheraphy session after 18 months of what Shane described simply as “hell”.
The welcoming committee will be at The Anchor Inn, where the fundraising will continue with a Cocktail and Casino Night with raffle.
The group of seven riders and five support crew are hoping to cycle the 187-miles from the Severn Bridge in Newport in under 16 hours to help send Riley and his family on a memorable holiday.
The ride comes a year after a previous 100-mile fundraiser ride for the family to help care for the youngster.
Riley was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour in March last year, and had surgery at Addenbrookes Hospital to remove it.
He’s experienced multiple hospital stays for radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as other medical treatments.
His father, Shane, gave up work to care for his son during the hospital visits, while Riley’s mother Emily looked after their other children at home.
Shane said he is elated now Riley is in remission. “He can go back to school and eat normal food again,” adding Riley still has some medical procedures to go through.
Shane has now returned to work after the 18-month ordeal he described as “hell”.
Rider James Barnes, who helped organise the bike ride as a surprise for the family, said: ” As a group, we are aiming to raise enough funds to send them on a family holiday and give them something to look forward to.” Any extra money will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.
With the forecast looking fine for the weekend, even with the weather on their side, this will be a huge undertaking. James added: “We are not all regular cyclists with some even buying bikes especially to do this.
“Speaking to many regular cyclists, they have all told us we are crazy doing this distance, but we don’t care, we just want to push ourselves to our limit to show what it means to us all.”
To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/ride-for-riley
