Team PLANETS Make it to Paris in 24 Hours!

FUNDRAISING FOR A CURE

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Team PLANETS Make it to Paris in 24 Hours!

We are delighted to report that all 58 riders in the PLANETS LP24, London to Paris in 24 hours cycle challenge made it to their destination, with 50 riders completing the full 300+ kilometres and the other eight in the cancer patient’s/medics relay team averaging over 200 km each. People really pushed their bodies to the absolute limit and dug deep together in an amazing victory for team spirit. We are still adding up the final tally for the donations, but we think this is in excess of £65,000! Whilst the personal reward for those involved cannot be counted.

This whole experience has been incredibly uplifting and inspiring to be part of – all of us within the PLANETS and Southampton hospital charity team have been blown away by the level of support we have received and the amount of doctors, nurses and patients that were willing to get involved. This event has provided enough money to pay for the next six month instalment of the lease/purchase of our intraoperative radiotherapy machine. This service is really going to help put Southampton at the forefront of advanced surgical oncology therapies worldwide, far ahead of the schedule that the NHS could expect to provide, which is what this charity fund is all about and we couldn’t do this without our supporters.

Neil Pearce, co-founder of PLANETS and Associate Medical Director at Southampton Hospital said ‘LP24 has shown that we have something extraordinary in this trust and that its basis is in the hearts of the many incredible people who work here and treat this as so much more than just a job.’

Support Team

Tom Armstrong, Consultant Surgeon and LP24 participant said ‘I loved the camaraderie that developed amongst the cyclists and support team. It got us there exhausted but safe and together. This challenge has really been really inspirational and this is reflected by the huge amount of money raised’.

Rider Colin Zaczyk said ‘I’ve done charity fund raising before and we all have our reasons why we get involved in these events, but when you see patients and their surgeons unite for the same cause it creates something very powerful. I personally witnessed the bond between them, it is like a family. Although I hated the hours of gruelling training, the sacrifice by all the riders and the extraordinary support team made the effort worthwhile, I felt part of something very special – I felt part of the PLANETS family’

Sam Newborough summed up her experience saying ‘heaps of fun, hard work, new friends and lots of money raised, bring on the next challenge!’

Thank you to everyone that supported us, to the businesses that got involved and helped us get to Paris safely and to all the crazy cyclists that took on this epic challenge, especially the patients that joined us on what was a very special ride indeed.

Our Relay Team which consisted of patients, nurses, doctors and friends!

Anyone still wishing to donate to this cause, please go to www.justgiving.com/teams/LP24 To see the full album of photos – click on this link!

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