MND charity cyclist says ‘I can’t find a cure – but I can ride a ruddy bike’
A charity cyclist who completed a 1189-mile journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats has spoken of the “absolute hell” his wife went through with motor neurone disease.
Peter Delaney (64), who has raised more than £10,000 for MND charities after completing the challenge in five weeks, declared: “I can’t find a cure or whatever – but I can ride a ruddy bike.”
He is a Rotarian and former rugby player who was supported by rugby clubs and Rotary groups along the route.
Peter, from Beverley in East Yorkshire, lost his wife Maureen to the disease in April 2022.
“It was all done in my wife’s name. She was quite an extraordinary woman,” he said after arriving in John O’Groats.
“She used to cook five, six or seven dinners on a Sunday night for elderly neighbours and I’d be delivering them. She was a real rock of the community.”
Peter’s two charities are the Motor Neurone Disease Association’s Cure Finders and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. He has an online fundraising page at Give as you Live.
“It [MND] comes into our lives uninvited,” he said. “If the money that I raise helps to take us over the line then all well and good.”
He explained that Maureen – “the love of my life” – suffered from MND for two-and-a-half years.
“What they go through is absolute hell where you lose all muscle functions. She was an amazing cook but she had to stop eating because of it being a choke risk.
“Right at the end she didn’t even have the strength to open her eyelid.”
Recalling how Maureen’s symptoms first became evident, Peter explained: “We were walking into the town one morning and she said, ‘Do I sound okay?’ Because obviously her voice was slightly changing.
“And then it got worse and she didn’t want to go out, she was slurring so much. She didn’t want people to think she was pickled.”
Peter said he had received “huge support” from Gloucester rugby club, with backing also coming from high-profile individuals within the sport including Scott Hastings and Kevin Sinfield.
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“I’m ex-rugby as well and that’s kind of what happens when someone’s in trouble, when someone’s in need – the rugby mentality is that we go and support them,” Peter said.
He has done a number of previous charity rides.
On his motivation for tackling the end-to-end challenge, he said: “It’s love. What I went through, in comparison to what she went through, it’s absolutely nothing.”
Peter worked in the insurance industry for many years and is now a consultant with a company that makes blinds.
He was welcomed by Thurso Rotary Club after reaching Groats on Thursday.
Peter said: “I could go again tomorrow – my legs have become extremely strong now, but they still don’t like the hills.”
Speaking before he set off on April 26, Peter said: “Having been touched by MND it became my passion to follow through Maureen’s legacy. Maureen would want me to go into battle against this debilitating and deathly disease.
“So I came up with the idea of using my skills as a cyclist to do what is known as the LEJOG journey and raise some funds to help the MND Cure Finders.
“I would like to invite Rotarians, rugby followers and members of the public to share my passion and, by donating, help the MND Cure Finders speed up the research, so that, in the future, others do not have to lose people they love.”
