The dad and brother of a blood cancer survivor will cycle 100 miles together to celebrate her reaching 100 days after her bone marrow transplant
Paul Harkins, a finance director from Glasgow, is taking on the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 race with his Dad, Vincent, on Sunday 10 August, to raise money for us.
Sophie's story
Paul decided to take on RideLondon for Anthony Nolan to celebrate his younger sister Sophie reaching her 100 day post bone marrow transplant mark.
Sophie was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma just before her 18th birthday after experiencing glandular fever like symptoms.
When the family were told that Sophie would need a bone marrow transplant Paul was tested to see if he was a match.
When a match wasn’t found in the family they turned to Anthony Nolan to find an unrelated donor.
Paul, Vincent and Sophie
'It was a god-send'
Paul said, “I was gutted not to be a match. If they could take anything from me to help her I would do it.
"It was a god send that they found an Anthony Nolan donor. I would definitely encourage everyone to sign up to the register.
“I can’t explain how thankful I am to the person who donated to Sophie it changed hers and our lives.
"You don’t understand the impact until it effects you personally.
"It’s not hard to sign up, it takes minutes but it could save someone like my sister.”
Sophie, now 20, is close to living a normal life, showing full signs of recovery.
She is also hoping to return to Oxford University in the near future who kept a place open for her.
As a symbol of their gratitude, Paul and his dad Vincent have decided to give something back to Anthony Nolan by cycling 100 miles at RideLondon.
'The London marathon of the cycling world'
The cycling event, described as ‘the London marathon of the cycling world’, starts in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and follows a 100-mile route through the capital and the Surrey countryside, finishing on The Mall in central London.
Paul said: “We want to raise as much money and awareness as possible.
"We understand that it obviously all costs money to sign people up to the register so we want to help in any way we can.
”Me and my dad are both quite into cycling, we watched it last year on tv and it looked really good, we wished I’d done it the year before!
"We saw it on the Anthony Nolan website and didn’t hesitate to sign up.
"This is a real challenge for us but will be all worth it in the end.”
Support from Olympic medal-winning cyclist Chris Newton
Mary Campbell, Head of Events at Anthony Nolan, said, “We are delighted to hear how well Sophie is doing and that Paul and Vincent are cycling Ride London with us this year.
"Our incredible team will be cycling many leg-testing miles in order to save lives.
"The funds they raise will enable us to recruit potential bone marrow donors for people like Sophie to the Anthony Nolan register – any one of whom could be a lifesaving match for someone with blood cancer.”
Chris Newton, three time Olympic Cycling medallist and Anthony Nolan’s Cycling Ambassador says: ‘As an ex–athlete, believe me, this is no walk in the park.
"One hundred miles is a real challenge, it’s the London marathon of the cycling world.
"I think it’s amazing these riders are taking on this huge test for such a worthy cause – their efforts will help cure blood cancer.’
You can sponsor Paul and Vincent at http://www.justgiving.com/Vincent-Paul-Harkins
Find out more about taking on cycling events to raise money for Anthony Nolan