A WELDER is getting on his bike to help raise funds and make people more aware of a rare and incurable bone cancer as his way of helping his family cope.

Darren Kirkbride, 42, is hoping to raise over £1,500 with a 500km bike ride from London to Paris. It’s a tribute to his father in law Geoff Hare, from Snape, who has been receiving treatment for the disease for five years.

A keen cyclist over many years, Darren, from Bedale, has gone from a sprinter as a teenager to tackling long distances but he says this is his “toughest challenge.”

His wife Joanne has organised a series of coffee mornings to raise funds for research and Darren decided he wanted to do something himself.

“Myeloma is difficult to cope with, I knew nothing about it until Geoff was diagnosed, and it’s very hard, I’m conscious of the emotions Joanne and the family go through on a daily basis and I just wanted to do something positive to help . I love cycling, it keeps me fit and I suffer from depression so it helps with that as well.

“I’ve been training hard and while it’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be great fun. And when you think we spend four days cycling and then end up on the Champs Elysees at a big celebration, what could be better? I just had to go for it,” added Mr Kirkbride.

Around 4,800 people a year are diagnosed with myeloma, a form of bone cancer which relapses and remits affecting around 13 people a day. It is a hard cancer to diagnose, which can mean delays, leading to one in five myeloma patients dying within 60 days of diagnosis, symptoms and complications include bone pain, fractures and kidney damage.

Darren, is setting off on the ride on May 4 along with 130 myeloma patients and their families, doctors and nurses as part of a major fundraising campaign for myeloma research, to help support the ride go to https://www.justgiving.com/Darren-Kirkbride/.