Dad With Terminal Cancer To Cycle 100km

Friday, 18 August 2023 00:00

Ricky Marques (L) and his trainer Ian Williams (R)

A Jersey dad who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer is cycling 100 km around Jersey for charity.

Ricky Marques is taking on the challenge to leave a legacy that will make his three-year-old daughter proud.

He told Channel 103 he originally bought a bike to help him lose the weight brought on by treatment.

"I thought 'I need to change this' so I bought the bike and started to cycle. A couple of days later I saw a social media post about the Macmillan Mac100 challenge and decided to do it."

Ricky told Channel 103 that getting his diagnosis was 'life changing'.

"It was devastating, as you can imagine, everything goes through your mind. Luckily I am reacting well to the treatment so I keep going.

I have two options - I can be on the sofa all day and have the guilty feeling and have other people feel sorry or I can get up and try and make a difference.

I now want to leave a legacy for my daughter. She's everything to me."

Cycling 100km is a challenge for anyone, but for Ricky his cancer and treatment add an extra layer of difficulty.

"The preparation is difficult, and people are properly not aware that having cancer can cause fluid in the lungs. So my breathing is half the capacity as someone without the disease.

In a sport like cycling when you need all the oxygen you can get in your body, it's really important to breathe as much as you can.

That's a challenge for me, when I'm out of breath and my legs hurt I need to find the strength and motivation to keep going."

Ricky's challenge will start at St Clement Parish Hall on Sunday morning (20 August) between 7.30am and 8.30am.

You can donate here.

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