4:20pm Thursday 26th January 2012
By Manisha Mistry
A GROUP of friends determined to raise money for Cancer Reseach UK have suffered an emotional blow to their campaign, following the loss of someone close to their hearts.
Dean North, Steve Hawes Jnr and Liam Smith have set themselves a challenge of cycling from St Albans to Paris in just 24 hours.
Another friend, Lee Jefferies, has also been training for the ride, but has recently had to pull out due to an injury.
One of Dean's personal reasons for supporting the cause is because his partner's dad was suffering from cancer. Last week William Garvey, from Liverpool, lost his 13-year battle with the disease.
Dean, 26, said: "This was one of my main reasons for choosing Cancer Research. William had cancer but the charity allowed him to live, not just suffer.
"He was our inspiration because you couldn't tell he was suffering from cancer.
"But recently his body stopped responding to the chemo and one of the things about the charity is its continuing research.
"He was obviously the reason I wanted to do this challenge, he was a grandad to my child and he had four children of his own, it's spurred me on to do this.
"It's not nice it happening to your family and I want to help support other families through it."
Dean said William's death has made the team more determined than ever to take on the challenge in his memory.
They will set off from St Albans Abbey at midnight on Saturday, March 3, and cycle to Dover. From there they will take a ferry across to Calais before completing the final leg to the Eiffel Tower.
To make a donation click here or follow their progress on Twitter @stalbans2paris.
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