Novice cyclist plans 100km ride 10 years after the death of her sister from cancer
A novice cyclist is taking on a 100km challenge on the tenth anniversary of her sister's death.
Angela Hibberd died of ovarian cancer at the age of 44, leaving three children, the youngest just four years old.
Now Wendy Hartwig, from Shrewsbury, is preparing to take on the Pedal the Borders fundraiser for the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund next month with her partner Chris George.
She decided to take on the annual challenge which leaves Oswestry on September 10 to honour Angela’s memory, raise awareness, and raise funds for local cancer services.
Wendy, who owns Skin Deep Clinic on Shrewsbury's Battlefield Enterprise Park, said: “I lost my sister Angela to ovarian cancer 10 years ago, she was just 44 and left three children behind, the youngest was just four.
"I’ve done a lot of fundraising over the years to try and do something positive, raising awareness about ovarian cancer, and I’ve always done it for Target Ovarian Cancer before but now I want to do something for local cancer services.
"I know lots of people who have been affected by cancer and get treatment from the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre.
“I saw a post on social media about the Pedal the Borders challenge and thought it would be a good way to mark the tenth anniversary of Angela’s death. You learn to live with losing someone and try to turn it into a positive.”
Wendy is always keen to raise awareness about cancer amongst her patients.
She said: “Working at the Skin Clinic we see people with various spots and blemishes and refer them to their GPs if there’s something we think should be looked at medically.
"We’ve organised a raffle at work as part of our Pedal the Borders fundraising and it’s really got people talking. Patients tell us their stories about cancer experiences, and many local people are impacted.”
Wendy, who is more used to running than cycling, says she is building up to the challenge slowly.
“I’ve done a lot of running before but not so much cycling, I’m building up slowly and am really looking forward to it - it should be a really great day out for a really good purpose,” she added.
The Pedal the Borders challenge is still open for entries here: pedaltheborders.co.uk.
There is a choice of a 25km, 60km or 100km ride, all of which start at AICO, in Oswestry, and take differing routes from Shropshire, into Powys and back.
For more information about ovarian cancer visit nhs.uk/conditions/ovarian-cancer.
To follow Wendy’s fundraising visit justgiving.com/page/wendy-hartwig-chris-george1688575532257.
