Wheels to the sky as cyclists climb above the cloud line to raise money for stroke ward

Ashford Wheelers climbed Mont Ventoux to raise money for Harbledown, a stroke ward in Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

Phil Fletcher, part of the seven cyclists taking on the challenge, decided to raise money for the ward after his wife, Jackie, suffered a stroke in 2021.

Phil said: “We just wanted to try and give back after everything they did for my wife, so we put our heads together and found a challenge.”

A tough challenge for even the most seasoned cyclists, Mont Ventoux is located in the south of France and requires some serious determination to climb the steep mountain even just once.

He said: “We cycled up and down as many times as we could over two days. Each climb was 21.5km, it was incredibly tough but the view at the end was beautiful.

“It’s a bucket-list moment, but being able to do it for something so personal to me made it much more special.”

Jackie suffered multi focal strokes at her home and was rushed to Kent and Canterbury Hospital after her quick-thinking son called 999.

Still struggling to come to terms with the seriousness of her brain injury, Jackie wants to remind everyone that stroke can affect people of any age.

Jackie said: “Everyone thinks stroke only happens to elderly people, but it happened to me and now people look at me in a different way that I actually find quite embarrassing.

“I used to work in real estate which was quite a stressful, time-consuming job. It’s sad that it’s taken this life-changing brain injury to make me step back, but I’m so much happier now.

“I received wonderful care in the Harbledown ward, although I was desperate to get home at the time. I am really grateful to Dr David Hargroves and the team who treated me.”

Phil, his sons, Owen and Liam, and their teammates, Andrew Branson, David Hampton, Jonathan Hollidge and Darren Turner were proud to present Harbledown ward with a big cheque for £2,800.

Dee Neligan, head of East Kent Hospitals Charity, said: “We’re so grateful for the donation to one of our stroke wards. We will be talking with Jackie and the staff on the ward to work out how that money can best be spent to improve patient or staff experience.”