Jack Newport
A year after he was told that he might lose a leg following a walking accident, 85 year old Jack Newport of Victoria Scott Court, Perry Street, Crayford, is about to set off on a circular cycle tour of well over 1,000 miles.
In June 2005 Jack successfully completed the London-Brighton run, raising nearly £850 for charity. Then, last year, he had the accident while rushing to catch a train after having had his pacemaker checked. Three days later he could not walk more than 100 yards without experiencing extreme pain in his right leg.
He was diagnosed with intermittent claudication and told that because of the condition of his veins and arteries his leg ought to be amputated unless he was prepared to work through the pain.
"I wasn't going to be beaten" he says, "not having survived the war and all that life has thrown at me since. I took the advice and it was painful but the more I exercise the less painful it gets. I think by the time I have finished the cycle run I should be fit enough to run the London Marathon".
Now, to honour the memory of a woman neighbour who died recently but who had worked tirelessly for Macmillan Cancer Support, Jack is back in the saddle.
On his Spanish-made Orbea cycle he intends to leave from the Macmillan Charity Shop in Crayford on September 10th and head for Margate. Then, in stages, he will pedal to Lands End, up to Bristol and back across southern England to Crayford – a distance of between 1,100 and 1,200 miles.
"I can cycle the distance" Jack says, "but with my leg, I couldn't do that sort of journey sitting in a train".
All money raised by Jack will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support to make a real difference to the lives of people living with cancer in south east London.
You can support Jack by sending donations to: Macmillan Cancer Support, 4th Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, Hammersmith, London W6 0LE with reference:Jack Newport cycle ride