A father in Barnsley has raised more than £2,500 for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity who have helped his young daughter.
Dan Windle’s daughter Cora-Joan, two, has a condition that means her own body is attacking her joints including her eye sockets and this has caused her mobility to deteriorate.
He has taken on two cycling challenges to raise money for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
Mr Windle said: “It’s been quite emotional, I described to my boss at work that I’m the proper Yorkshire guy who doesn’t really show emotion. But there have been times in the last few months where I’ve absolutely broke down.
“When somebody tells you that there’s a chance that your daughter could lose her vision at two years old, its hurtful.”
Mr Windle is completing the Length of the UK Challenge where he is aiming to cycle 1,084 miles before his daughter’s birthday in July and as part of it, he completed his own five stadiums in five days challenge.
In this he cycled from Barnsley visiting a different football stadium in South Yorkshire every day. He cycled to Sheffield United, Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers, Rotherham United and he finished off at his beloved club, Sheffield Wednesday.
He rode a total of 167.9 miles during this challenge.
Mr Windle said: “On my last visit, a consultant said to me ‘the progress your daughter has made is brilliant and we shouldn’t forget that, but until your daughter can do everything that a girl her age can do, then we’re not going to stop treating her.’”
The toughest part of the challenge for Mr Windle was at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster where he was “covered head to toe in mud, cold and dripping wet”.
When he got back on his bike, his daughters’ favourite song, Anna Sun by WALK THE MOON, started playing.
Mr Windle said: “Every time that song comes on, she loves it and in my head, I saw her dancing to it.
“Since she started going in for treatment, she’s gone from barely being able to walk to being able to stand up and dance to Anna Sun.
“There are people in that hospital who six or seven months ago hadn’t met my daughter, but they’ve helped her to change her life around and she can start doing the stuff that she always enjoyed doing.”
If you would like to donate to help Mr Windle on his Length of the UK Challenge, then click here.
