Local blogger, Mike Hartley, suffered a stroke two years ago. Thankfully, he recovered quickly, unlike so many others. Now he’s getting on his bike and riding 64 miles to raise funds for the Stroke Association. I’ve known Mike for a few years now, since meeting him when I went to a meet-up of the St. Albans Flickr group not long after I moved to the city. And I’ve just made a small donation to help him meet his fundraising target – you can help too.

Here’s what he says about his fundraising efforts:

“Imagine, if you will, what it’s like to fall to the ground for no reason at all at 8am on a Saturday morning when you’re dressing your child. Unable to move fully, unable to talk you’re bundled into an ambulance and flashed to hospital with full sirens and lights, then faced with hours of tests to see what’s gone wrong.

I was lucky, recovering movement speech and mental functions within 24 hours- but I was away from work for six months and my family was affected. Many people, like my aunt and uncle, aren’t so lucky and suffer long-term physical and mental effects, often requiring care for the rest of their lives.

Every year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. Of all people who suffer from a stroke, about a third are likely to die within the first 10 days, about a third are likely to make a recovery within one month and about a third are likely to be left disabled and needing rehabilitation.

The Stroke Association funds research into prevention, treatment and better methods of rehabilitation, and helps stroke patients and their families directly through its Life After Stroke Services.

I’m riding my bike 64 miles on the St Albans ‘Ride for a reason’ ride on Sunday 20th June. I ride my bike to work every day, but this is the furthest I’ve ridden in longer than I care to admit and isn’t going to be easy. Please dig into your wallets/purses/creditcards/paypal/piggy banks and donate money to the Stroke Association to support stroke sufferers and their carers.”

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