Velo Birmingham & Midlands 2019! The 100 mile closed road ride will be back on Sunday 12 May 2019. Leaving from Birmingham City Centre and travelling through Solihull, Warwickshire, Coventry, Dudley & Sandwell and ending up back in Birmingham City Centre.By riding in Velo 2019 you can help to support patients, families and staff at our hospitals, funding equipment, research and facilities

Last year my brother,John, was admitted to Heartlands Hospital for a stem cell transplant, following 14 months of chemotherapy at Good Hope Hospital for Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer. Following the transplant, things took a turn for the worse and, having already contracted Sepsis, he then suffered heart failure. It took a team of 15 medical professionals over 30 minutes to resuscitate him using CPR, before he was transferred to ITU and put into a medically induced coma. He was on life support for two weeks, with kidney failure, two minor strokes and possible brain damage as a result of cardiac arrest and immediately John suffered a second life-threatening infection. The prognosis was extremely poor. To complicate matters, as a result of being intubated for two weeks, John ended up with paralysis. Fortunately, with a lot of medical intervention and subsequent physiotherapy, he made a slow recovery and gradually learnt how to walk and talk again.

It was several months before John was able to go home and, after the installing of various aids around the home in the early stages, with regular motor-based learning and exercise from the physiotherapy team, he has made a significant recovery. This support network continues today.

To me, as his brother, the staff at Heartlands were more than professional. They were kind, compassionate and shared an empathy for the whole family and in particular his wife, Diane, as cancer is a shared journey. Without the support network of the Heartlands and Good Hope, I do not know how John and our family would have made it through this experience.

A while ago I talked to John about 'giving back' to the hospital to show our appreciation for the way they've helped the whole family. The Birmingham Velo is an ideal opportunity to give back to the 'sharing, caring'  profession, so please give generously for now and the future.

Thanks, Mark.