Dad’s 200-mile ride on tiny bike to honour girl
A 6ft TALL father is riding 200 miles on his sevenyear-old daughter’s tiny pink bike to raise awareness of the brain tumour that killed her.
Peter Williams, 46, from Penzance, Cornwall, set off from Bristol Children’s Hospital, where his daughter Ellie was treated, bound for Land’s End yesterday.
He was aboard Ellie’s “pride and joy” which is just 20in high and was a present for her last Christmas from Peter, his partner, Kaz, 44, and brother Joe, 13.
He has already raised £18,499 for The Brain Tumour Charity, smashing his £10,000 target and hopes to raise more.
Mr Williams said: “Ellie loved cycling and could ride a bicycle without stabilisers when she was just three-years-old.
“I’ll never forget how happy and proud she looked – nearly as proud as I was.
“I’m so glad I captured that magical memory on video.
“She would have thought I was a bit bonkers doing this.”
Ellie died from a rare highly aggressive tumour in 2015.
Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 but there is a lack of funding for research into treatments and cures.
Mr Williams believes it will take him about a week to wobble his way through Somerset, Devon and Cornwall until he reaches his destination.
He said he would have to be “a bit clever” with how he rides Ellie’s bike to ensure both of them reach Land’s End in one piece. He has been riding his mountain bike for two hours a day to build up his fitness and also practising on Ellie’s bike.
He added: “I’m going to be standing up and riding it as much as I can. I don’t want to destroy my knees and my back doing this because I want them to last a few more years yet and maybe do another challenge in the future.”