12:00pm Wednesday 28th July 2010
By Ben Wilkinson
“THERE is no amount of money which could ever pay them back for what they did for me.”
So says Wantage PE teacher Max Gayler, who along with two of his colleages, is cycling the length of the country in aid of charities.
Mr Gayler, 25, Andy Farrell, 29, and Scott Hooper, 26, who work at King Alfred’s School, started the journey of almost 1,000 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End on Saturday, and hope to finish next Wednesday.
Mr Gayler is raising money for the doctors who saved his life after they removed a life-threatening brain tumour when he was 13.
He underwent a seven-hour operation to remove the tumour from his optic nerve, at the Wessex Neurological Centre, at Southampton General Hospital.
He said: “If I had not an operation, I would have died the following day. Waking up and not being able to move is quite something for a 13-year-old lad who loved sport.”
He said staff at the children’s ward were amazing, adding: “I want to raise as much for them as I can.”
Mr Farrell is raising money for Epilespy Research UK and Cardiomyopathy, after two of his friends died from the conditions.
He said: “We are going against the wind, but we are all pretty excited. It is a huge challenge; the biggest any of us has ever taken on.”
Mr Hooper has decided not to raise funds for charity, as he has done in the past, but will accompany his colleagues for the experience.
The teachers were given free membership at Wantage Leisure Centre to train for the challenge. To sponsor them and follow their progress visit jogle10.moonfruit.com
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