TWO friends of a woman who died after suffering a brain haemorrhage on her birthday have tackled a charity cycling challenge in her memory.

Joe Astbury, 34, and Ed Walker, 25, completed a gruelling 160-mile ride from Liverpool to Chester-le-Street in a day to celebrate the life of Joe’s friend Angela Howey and raise funds for the brain injury charity Headway.

In July 2015, the health club worker from Chester-le-Street was celebrating her 48th birthday with husband Colin when she suffered a brain haemorrhage and died three days later.

A year on from the tragedy, Joe wanted to organise an event to remember his friend and raise money for a relevant cause.

So far, the challenge has raised £3,707 for Headway, with money still coming in.

The pair were met by a cheering crowd at the health club based at the Riverside, including members of Angela’s family and staff at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue service, for which Joe is a personal trainer.

“Angela was one of a kind,” said Joe. “She was a friendly, very funny and loving person who cared dearly for her family and close friends.

“It felt quite fitting for us to cycle from Liverpool, a place Angela loved and visited regularly to see friends and family, to her former workplace in her hometown where she lived with Colin.

“The support from Angela’s family and the local community has been amazing.

“We know Angela would be moved by our efforts to retrace her favourite places on our bikes and hope that we can reach out to help others faced with the devastating impact brain injury can have upon entire families.”

Ed said: “We’ve been really fortunate to receive such amazing support from Banntyne’s Health Club in Chester-le-Street where Joe organised a Wattbike fundraiser, and local Tesco for hosting a charity bag-pack the day after the challenge.

“Friends and family have also been tremendous.

“Some acted as support vehicle crew members whilst others helped took professional photographs to document the day.

“Being able to update our sponsors as we progressed through the day was a nice touch”.

He added: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Bannatyne Health Club, support crew members John Walker and John Douglas-Walker, Delta Taxis in Liverpool, and our event photographer Ronnie Fraser.

“Finally, thank you to everyone who got involved and donated to help people living with brain injury.”