Corby man cycling 1,000 miles in 10 days to raise money for charity

A man from Corby is cycling more than 1,000 miles in just 10 days to raise money for charity.

Kevin Gaffney set off on the journey yesterday morning, one which will take him from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Kevin was brought up in Corby but left at 18 for university in Wales. He now lives just south of Aberdeen in Scotland where his company DDK Positioning is based.

Kevin is completing his challenge alongside his colleagues Stuart and Kenny. Together they’re raising money for Make-A-Wish UK, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland.

The charity that Kevin chose is Make-A-Wish, a charity that gave his nephew, Fraser, who was medically unable to travel, the opportunity to experience Disneyland here in the UK.

Kevin said: “We’re raising money for various charities, particularly one for me because my nephew went through leukaemia over an 18-month period and Make-A-Wish is the one that helped them afterwards and supported the family, so this is a great opportunity to raise money for them.

“I went through the whole journey with them, from a distance. I recognised that apart from the treatment that goes through for the children, which is horrendous, watching a family be impacted on that, who never knew that would be what would happen, seeing the impact on families, just to have that respite and support for the whole family, I think that’s amazing.”

Fraser Hinde was originally diagnosed with leukaemia at 17-months-old. One month into treatment they found out that he had an extremely rare gene rearrangement that’s never been treated at his hospital before because it’s so rare.

Fraser was treated for that but unfortunately relapsed a couple of times along the way.

He needed to have the new CAR-T therapy in Great Ormond Street, which was a trial, but that didn’t work either and he had to go forward for a bone marrow transplant at only three-years-old.

Fraser had his bone marrow transplant in 2019, which was fortunately very successful.

Alison Gaffney, Fraser’s mum, said: “He has done an incredible recovery that they have said is phenomenal and he is doing extremely well.

“We do have a lot of problems from the radiation he had and the treatment, however he is happy and living and amazing.”

On Sunday, when Kevin stops on the outskirts of Wales as part of the cycle, Alison and Fraser will be going to see him there and Fraser is very excited to see his uncle.

Alison said: “Fraser bought him a little bell to go on his bike, a little hamster wearing an umbrella hat.

“It’s a lovely achievement what my brother’s doing and for a fantastic charity, I’m very, very proud.”

Kevin is doing the Wheelie Big Ride via his company DDK Positioning. He can be tracked on the company website (at the bottom of the page).

To sponsor Kevin and his team members visit their JustGiving page.