How baby Tabitha inspired a 1,000 mile fundraising bike ride
How the fundraising challenge began
Old friends Gareth and Pete regularly set themselves cycling challenges – they've pedalled their way around the Welsh coast and from the West to East coast of England. For Pete's 60th birthday they climbed Mont Blanc and, ten years on, Gareth thought road cycling a 1,000 miles for his own 60th birthday sounded like a good idea. But their plans to enjoy the French countryside on two wheels, arriving in Normandy in time for the D-Day commemorations in May 2025, turned into a fundraising challenge to help DKMS register more potential stem cell donors.
The catalyst was Pete’s neighbour’s daughter Tabitha, who was diagnosed with primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) -- a rare, life-threatening immune disorder – at just three months old. She was in hospital for three months with parents Sara and Tim by her side, whilst doctors searched for a matching donor.
Supporting Tabitha and DKMS
“It was touch and go for a long time,” explains Pete. “I asked if we could do anything, and that’s where the idea to raise money for DKMS began.”
The pair, who live near Shrewsbury, set up a fundraising appeal, circulated it to friends and family and set sail for Bilbao. “Pete was dreading that bit, because he’s a terrible sailor,” laughs Gareth. “But luckily It was flat calm and he wasn’t seasick”.
The two friends had set a target of riding about 80 to 90 miles a day with just what they had loaded in their cycle panniers to support them.
Setting off
Crossing the Pyrenees by bike, however, was no mean feat. Gareth takes up the story:
“About half of the ride was roads, when you can get a nice bit of speed up. But the rest was gravel or country paths or through forests. Some days, because the terrain was so bad, we were riding for up to 14 hours -- including two days, back to back, when we had to ride well over 100 miles because of unexpected trail/road closures."
“We’d had this vision of France having a café every few miles, but in fact, a couple of days in, all we had was one sachet of porridge.” “It was survival food!” recalls Pete.
Changing weather conditions were also a challenge as they made their way up to Normandy.
“There was one point where I had a bit of sunstroke, on the very sunny Atlantic coast, and two or three days later I had a bit of hypothermia, because we were up on the north coast with terrible conditions and very little warm gear,” says Gareth.
Tabitha spurs them on
Despite their gruelling schedule, Gareth and Pete never forgot about little Tabitha’s diagnosis and the cause they were raising money for.
“We talked about it a lot on the route as well, and we kept in touch with her parents", explains Pete. “It was great motivation.”
“We’d only got about 100 miles left to go, when we got a message from Tabitha’s parents that her latest blood count was really positive, which was great: it helped keep us going,” adds Gareth.
The end of the 1,000 miles was in Bayeux.. “It was brilliant – our wives came over to meet us, and they organised us a finishing line by the Cathedral, with DKMS flags and balloons flying and a celebratory glass of champagne,” says Pete. Together, they’d raised an amazing £3,220 for DKMS.
Supporting Tabitha’s parents
Tabitha’s parents got a real boost from their success.
“We think they are absolutely crazy for doing such a long cycle, but we are so thankful that they did,” says mum Sara. “It really means a lot that they supported our family, and the charity, in such an amazing way. We couldn’t be there in person to see them during their trip but we have loved looking at all of the photos.”
Tabitha’s transplant
Meanwhile, Tabitha’s condition became more unstable, and the decision was taken to use Sara as a haploidentical donor, despite her only being a 50% match. She received her stem cell transplant in December 2024.
“Although we are not completely out of the woods yet, Tabitha is now 18 months old and is going from strength to strength and her consultant is happy with her recovery so far,” says Sara.
“It’s lovely now if you see her, and obviously her family have got to know Gareth now,” says Pete. ”We didn’t know anything about DKMS beforehand, but it’s so personal now. We can relate directly, which has made me feel so proud of what we’ve done. And if the £3,220 helps sign up more people as potential stem cell donors, then that’s the icing on the cake.”
The impact of stem cell transplantation
Sara has the last word: “Words cannot really describe the impact that a stem cell transplant has had on Tabitha. Simply put, without one Tabitha would not be here with us today. It was the only option that would allow us to give Tabitha a chance of surviving.”
Inspired by Gareth and Pete and want to take on a challenge to help children like Tabitha? Contact fundraising@dkms.org.uk to get started.
