The countdown is very much on for a Bannockburn man set to take on a gruelling cycle in memory of his nephew’s passing more than 40 years ago.
Ed Delaney will be in the saddle for a mammoth 85-mile journey across the winding roads of Highland Perthshire in the Etape Caledonia race on Sunday, all to raise money for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.
The Etape Caledonia allows cyclists to take part across various routes of 40 miles, 55 miles and the longest effort set to be completed by Ed, with the aim to push even the most experienced cyclists to their limits.
The punishing pedal is to pay tribute to nephew Lorne, who died on November 22, 1982 after a six-month fight with serious heart problems.
Lorne was born on May 14 that year and after initially being presumed as a healthy baby, he quickly deteriorated and was left unable to take in food and experts at the then-Yorkhill Hospital fitted him with a pacemaker.
Unfortunately, after an initial improvement, Lorne’s body rejected the pacemaker - with the advice given to re-site the implant elsewhere through a further operation, a few hours after which Lorne tragically passed away.
Ed has been keen to take on a special effort to pay tribute to his nephew and on what would have been his 40th birthday last year, it was decided he would take on the Etape for Lorne to raise money for the doctors working at the hospital where he was treated.
The 55-year-old, originally from Dunipace, told the Observer: “I thought about doing something as long as ten years ago and I mentioned it to the other nieces and nephews; the timing just felt right to do it now and it all coincided with what have been his 40th birthday.
“It felt like the right thing to be doing to get us all us talking about him a bit more.
“Lorne was one of the first babies here to be fitted with a pacemaker and while it didn’t work for Lorne, there must be things they learned for subsequent children requiring the operation.
“It was Yorkhill where Lorne got his pacemaker fitted and was looked after so well so this is about giving back to the people who cared for Lorne and also for the support they give other families going through the worst time of their life with a sick child.”
The Etape 'sportive' begins in Pitlochry, before heading through Kinloch Rannoch and up the Schiehallion mountain before swooping through villages including Grandtully and Ballinluig before ending back in Pitlochry.
“It’s come around quicker than I thought it would, I’m meant to be resting up and eating lots of pasta now”, Ed added.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, I think the longest I’ve been on the bike is about an hour and a half max but I thought if we are going to ask people to raise money, then at least I need to sweat a bit.”
To find out more on Ed’s effort and support the fundraiser, you can visit gofundme.com/f/fkfb7a-glasgow-childrens-hospital-charity
