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Ride London: Cancer survivor Joe Smale to cycle 100 miles in memory of best friend

Up for the challenge: Joe Smale preparing for this Sunday's ride for Team Angus: Dave Hayward
Up for the challenge: Joe Smale preparing for this Sunday's ride for Team Angus: Dave Hayward

A teenage boy who has survived leukaemia three times is taking part in a 100-mile cycle ride in memory of a friend he met while receiving cancer treatment.

Joe Smale, 19, from Chiswick, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was two. He has spent much of his life in and out of hospital, having relapsed aged nine and then again on New Year’s Eve 2010.

During Joe’s last relapse, he met Angus Rowland, who had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia just a few months before, on a cancer ward at University College Hospital. The pair, who were both preparing for their stem call transplant, became close friends. Angus died from the disease in May 2011, aged 14.

This Sunday, Joe will be one of thousands of people taking part in the Prudential RideLondon Surrey 100 to raise money for Bloodwise, a research charity for blood cancers and to pay tribute to Angus.

Joe, who has completed several charity rides, said this event “felt more personal”. He added: “Angus and I shared that experience. We would play computer games together and try to make it as normal as possible. Obviously, we want to raise money for research, but for me this is more about doing it for Angus.”

Joe will be joining 20 other “Team Angus” riders, including his father Tim and Angus’s father Jonathan. Since his son’s death Mr Rowland and Angus’s mother Elizabeth Mailey have set up the Angus Rowland Forget-Me-Not Fund to raise money for Bloodwise. So far, they have raised £170,000.

Ms Mailey was due to take part in this weekend’s challenge, but is unable to after breaking her ankle in a training accident. Speaking to the Standard, Ms Mailey, from Staple Field in Sussex, said: “At least the money we are raising will still be going to those who need it the most. At least I will get better, but we are doing this for people who face never getting better.

“There has been a lot of research into leukaemia and in particular the type of leukaemia Angus had, but often that does not translate in to treatment for a number of reasons. So this is a very important cause to us.”

To donate, go to justgiving.com

Firefighter takes on challenge for medics who saved him

A firefighter hit by a truck while cycling to work is taking on the Ride London 100-mile challenge to raise money for London Air Ambulance.

Paul Brown, 48, suffered catastrophic injuries to his face and jaw, fractured his elbow and damaged his vertebrae in the accident in West Norwood on the way to his night shift.

Staff from London Air Ambulance stabilised him at the roadside for an hour before taking him to the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel.

Catastrophic injuries: Paul Brown, 48, was hit by a truck as he cycled to work (Nigel Howard)
Catastrophic injuries: Paul Brown, 48, was hit by a truck as he cycled to work (Nigel Howard)

He was put in an induced coma and was in intensive care for eight days. Staff at the hospital rebuilt his face and jaw over eight months before he returned to work.

Mr Brown said it was “fitting” that he should take part in a cycling challenge to raise money for those who saved his life in the accident 10 years ago. “Amazingly since then it has been a pleasure on a couple of occasions to work alongside the same paramedic who worked on me that day,” he said. “As a way of saying thank you and celebrating that I am still able to cycle I am the 100-mile challenge.”

Visit londonsairambulance.co.uk