Bikeathon back to raise money for Louth brain tumour charity

The Emma-Jayne Memorial Fund was set up in 1999 following the death of Ruth and Tony Knowles’ daughter Emma-Jayne, who sadly died of a brain tumour in December 1998.

Emma-Jayne was born at Crowntree Hospital Louth and attended Sutton Primary School, Tennyson High School and she then did a catering course at Boston College.

She later worked as a postal worker in Sutton-On-Sea, but in February 1998, she started getting cold hands and double vision, and an MRI Scan revealed that she had a brain tumour.

Unfortunately her brain tumour was too deep to operate on and she underwent 35 radiotherapy sessions at Hull Royal Infirmary, but sadly no more could be done and she passed away just days before her 23rd birthday.

Ruth said: “The care and staff were amazing and we would not have received better treatment had we of paid private. We cannot thank them enough.

“One good thing that came out of this was that the neurosurgeons and doctors did not realise how far Hull was away from Sutton-On-Sea - nearly 70 miles - so now they spend more time with their patients.”

The Bikeathon has run every year since 1999 in her memory – except 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and raises much-needed funds for the Hull Royal Infirmary’s neurosurgical unit, and to date, more than £167,679 has been raised in Emma-Jayne’s memory.

Ruth explained: “We don’t just give the hospital money, we ask them what equipment they need and they tell us, and we raise money to purchase the equipment for them.

“At the moment, we’re aiming to raise money for surgical chair for the neurosurgeon to sit on while he is operating on brain tumour patients.”

Both Tony and Ruth were recently awarded British Empire Medals for their incredible fundraising efforts.

The Bikeathon is scheduled to take place at The Royal Oak, aka the Splash, pub in Little Cawthorpe on July 17, and operates with 12 and 30 mile routes, setting off at 11am.

There will also be a four-and-a-half mile walk, which sets off at 11.05am.

To register for the Bikeathon, or to find out more, email [email protected] or call 01507 441347.

To find out more about the charity, visit https://emma-jaynememorialfund.co.uk/