A north-east man is preparing to cycle nearly 200 miles in just two days to thank the team who helped save his sister’s sight.
Neil Shepherd will go from Aberdeen beach to Skye to raise funds for Aberdeen’s out-patient department’s charity Fighting for Sight, which raises money for equipment, treatment and research.
Mr Shepherd’s sister Karen Orchard has been receiving treatment for two sight-threatening conditions for the last 11 years and said she would be “forever grateful” to doctors for allowing her to see her children grow up.
Mr Shepherd, from Aberdeen, is now determined to raise £5,000 for the clinic’s charity and is already more than halfway there.
Mrs Orchard said: “It’s hard for me to find the words to describe how incredibly proud and touched I am of my brother for taking on this challenge in my honour, to raise money for a cause that I owe so much to. He is definitely my cycling hero.”
‘Forever grateful’
In 2010 Mrs Orchard was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a neurological condition which causes optic nerves to swell.
She needed more than 16 lumbar punctures to control the pressure in the fluid around the brain and eventually had surgery to have an LP shunt fitted to save her sight. This left her with some permanent peripheral vision loss.
A year later she was diagnosed with uveitis, another serious, rare eye condition and has been receiving continuous treatment from the eye clinic since.
Last October, the team did emergency surgery after her shunt stopped working which again, saved her sight.
Not only that, but the staff supported Mrs Orchard through both her pregnancies.
“I will be forever grateful to them for helping me to have my two children and still being able to actually see them grow up with my sight loss hopefully stabilised,” she said.
Biggest challenge to date
Her brother has always been a keen cyclist but this is his biggest challenge to date.
In 2011 he completed the Pedal for Scotland challenge alongside their dad to raise money for Fighting for Sight, but this route is almost double the distance.
He will go from Aberdeen to Aviemore, Inverness, Dingwall before reaching Skye, climbing around 2650m which is the same height of the famous Col du Galibier.
His hero and world record holder for long-distance cycling, Mark Beaumont, sent him a personal video message wishing him well which has buoyed on his training and fundraising efforts.
The 34-year-old is aiming to raise around £5,000 for the charity and has already raised nearly £4,000 on his JustGiving page.