Two sisters, two bikes, two days, #PedalThePeriphery of NI in major endurance fundraiser for two loved ones who died of silent killer pancreatic cancer

Living with the grief of losing two loved ones, Andrea Harrower (48) from Dromara and her sister Cathy Booth (46) from Hillsborough, will on June 9 set out on an epic journey to #PedalThePeriphery of NI taking in 480 miles in just 48 hours non-stop.

They will be visiting towns across NI, including Portstewart, Dungannon, Larne, Carrickfergus, Enniskillen, and will be finishing off in Lisburn at Wallace High School.

The idea for the challenge was Andrea’s husband, Paddy Harrower’s just five days before he died. The former PE teacher from Wallace High School and sports fanatic had only 14-weeks to live from diagnosis on Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022 to his death on July 24. Presenting late, his symptoms included indigestion and pain in the upper abdomen.

Wanting ‘something positive’ to come from a diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, Paddy challenged his wife and sister-in-law to take on the endurance event to support local pancreatic cancer charity NIPANC raise both funds and awareness.

The money will go into research in memory of Paddy and a school friend of Cathy’s, Natalie Wilson who died, age 40 from the disease, leaving behind three young children.

The #PedalThePeriphery event will start at the gates of Ormeau Park on June 9, where George Ezra will be playing at the Belsonic Music Festival in Belfast. Paddy adopted the singer’s uplifting Green Green Grass song during his illness. It was later played at his funeral.

The pair will be followed on the ride by Andrea’s recently restored quirky, 1974 purple VW Beetle support vehicle, purple being the colour associated with pancreatic cancer.

Unroadworthy, it was repaired, free-of-charge, by Master Technician Mark Strutt, previously accredited through Volkswagen. His brother John died of the illness three years ago.

Paddy’s bike will be mounted on top of the VW and will make the metaphorical journey along with Cathy and Andrea.

Andrea, a personal trainer said: “Cycling was so important to Paddy, his self-devised challenges and other official events at home and abroad. He used the bike to get to work and on family holidays.

“During his illness he set himself his own challenges as a reason ‘to get out of bed until the day he died’.

"As a family, we and our two sons, Fraser (19) and Alex (15), and my sister and brother did a final ride out from home with him only a couple of weeks before he passed away. His motto was: ‘I’m not living with cancer; cancer is living with me and I’m taking it for a ride’.”

During the two-day, clock-wise cycle around NI, the sisters are adopting the NIPANC charity slogan #TimeMatters to continue raising public awareness about the need to understand the symptoms of the disease and seek early diagnosis and treatment. Time also matters in reaching route points and the finish line. A third hashtag, #IBlamePaddy is also being introduced to inject some fun into fundraising.

Andrea explained: “#IBlamePaddy came about when people started finding out he was terminally ill. Friends and family felt they had no excuse but to join in some of the things he was doing including cold water swimming and kayaking.

"I don’t think he realised the impact he had on people. He was a modest man who wouldn’t like too much attention, but we think Paddy would be secretly pleased that the hashtag can be used by anyone fundraising to literally blame him on any crazy thing they do, to raise money and awareness for this important cause.”

Cathy, a former Director at BDO who now runs her own business consultancy said: “Within five years, I not only lost Paddy, an incredible brother-in-law but also one of my school friends of 30-years, Natalie, to this devastating disease.

"Andrea and I are on a mission to raise awareness and fund vital research so other people don’t have to go through what we have.

"We want as many people involved in fundraising as possible and will be talking to schools, rugby and cycling/sports clubs along the route about how they can be part of our journey and #IBlamePaddy too.

“For us, this had to be an endurance challenge, given what we have both personally experienced. We know, no matter what physical and mental distress and pressure we put on ourselves during this challenge, it is absolutely nothing compared to what someone on a pancreatic cancer journey is facing.”

The pair have already raised an amazing £56,559 for the charity.

"Our original target of £60k was within arms reach, so in true endurance style, we have just moved the goalpost, to a target of £80,000,” explained Cathy.

"The support we have received to date, over this very personal journey, has been truly overwhelming.

"We are fully 'prepared' for the weekend to be a rollercoaster, both physically and emotionally. Support and encouragement from anyone we see on route, whether we know them personally or professionally, or not at all, will be hugely impactful....but please do bear with us if we struggle to form a coherent sentence to show how hugely grateful we are for your support.”

NIPANC’s Chairperson, Ivan McMinn MBE added: “We will be supporting Andrea and Cathy every push of the pedal on this epic cycle around the perimeter of NI. The difficulty of this challenge cannot be underestimated but the good it will do will be enormous. On Friday, may the road rise to meet you and the wind be at your back.”

You can track the route online at http://live.primaltracking.com/iblamepaddy/

And if you would like to support the fundraising effort and find out more, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pedaltheperiphery