Market Deeping mum takes on 60 mile bike ride to honour sister-in-law

When Jacqui Parker from Market Deeping lost her sister-in-law to bowel cancer, she vowed to do something to honour her memory.

She enlisted her best friend, Kay Starbuck-Chapman from Stamford and together they cycled sixty miles and raised over £700 for charity.

Jacqui’s sister-in-law Christine, who was a keen tandem cyclist, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014, but sadly lost her fight in January this year, aged 59. During her battle with cancer, her four children, who had mostly left home, found themselves back in York to be with their mother and father.

Jacqui said: “She was a lovely person – always with a smile on her face, always thought the best of people, a lovely family lady who was so in love with my brother Chris. They were inseparable and definitely came as a pair.”

Jacqui and Kay have been friends for more than 15 years and are regular cyclists. They felt inspired to take on the challenge.

“We’ve done a few charity walks in the past but we decided to get the bikes out instead and cycle for fun. It’s a great way of getting some exercise, having a chat and enjoying the countryside,” said Jacqui.

The event they chose was the Flat 100 South 60-miler, which starts and ends in Peterborough. The fundraising pair took their time to enjoy the experience and finished in a well deserved five hours four minutes.

Kay’s husband Dan followed them as a back-up team, along with Jacqui’s husband Andy, her brother Mark and eldest daughter Laura.

Chief Executive of Bowel and Cancer Research Deborah Gilbert thanked the two mums for their support. “We’re very sorry to hear about Christine Leather. Our mission is to ensure that no one should die of this terrible disease in future and we can only do that with the help of fantastic fundraisers like Jacqui and Kay.”

Anyone who wants to support Jacqui and Kay can still do so at https://www.bowelcancerresearch.org/fundraisers/starriders?startat=10.