A determined Trafford dad-of-two will take on a mammoth 1,600 mile cycle to southern Spain in honour of his well-known mum who ran pubs across Manchester before she tragically died of organ failure. Jonathan Mawby, 44, from Timperley, will embark on the 20-day trek to remember mum Lee who was first diagnosed with incurable blood cancer in 2018.
His mum, who was 73 when she lost her life, had not eaten for 17 days and passed away from organ failure as a result of malnutrition. However, two years before her death, she was handed the devastating news that she had myeloma, a blood cancer which currently has no known cure, and fell ill in hospital.
She had later become ill as a side-effect of her treatment, after the cancer became ‘active’ in May 2020, in the middle of lockdown. And, although she seemed to respond to treatment at first, in August 2020, she became inexplicably ill and was rushed to hospital.
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It was a challenging time for the family, who were unable to visit her in her hospital bed due to the pandemic and the Covid-19 restrictions. Lee’s condition only worsened, and despite the family’s best efforts to advocate for her and try to get to the bottom of things, she died on October 5, 2020.
Lee was well known across Manchester, having run several pubs with partner Mike over the years, including The George in Marple Bridge, The Unity in Hyde and The Andrew Arms in Compstall.
Later next month, between May 13 and June 1, Jonathan will set off from Altrincham on his 20-day trek to Aguilas, southern Spain, where the family have spent time holidaying. The Knutsford garage owner will have to contend with hairpin bends and steep terrain – by the end of the journey, he will have climbed the equivalent of twice the height of Mount Everest.
And he will be joined by sister Sally Silver, 42, from Compstall, along with her 15-month-old son, and dad Mike who will follow him and act as a mini support-vehicle convoy. Jonathan said: “I’ve never done something this mad before. The timing seemed right to do something in her honour.
"It’s been timed to the second so if we get a mechanical bike failure we will just have to get moving and get on with it. My mum would probably think I’m completely mad. She would probably say, ‘Why on Earth would you want to do that for?’.
"I'll be cycling around 80 miles a day for 20 consecutive days to ride the 1,600-mile distance. It's going to be tough. I'm raising money for Myeloma UK in memory of my lovely mum. She had been diagnosed with myeloma in December 2018. Treatments can be effective at controlling the disease but as I know from Mum's experience, they don't work for all patients.
“My hope is to raise much-needed funds to find kinder, less intrusive treatments and ultimately to find a cure. There are many long, cold and wet nights, mornings and weekends ahead of me - and that's just the training - and knowing we're raising money in memory of my Mum will spur me on."
Jonathan is hoping to raise £10,000 for blood cancer charity Myeloma UK towards a cure. Donations can be made at his JustGiving page here.
