An east Hull man has completed the astonishing feat of cycling from Morecambe to Hull and raised more than £20,000 for a motor neurone disease charity.
Les Shaw, 67, who owns local business Les’s Fresh Fish, did it all in memory of his late wife Julie Shaw, who suffered a rapid deterioration in her health after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, which left her paralysed and unable to speak.
Their story is intertwined with that of the late Rugby League star Rob Burrow, who died last year after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2019. His former Leeds Rhinos teammate Kevin Sinfield has been raising money for MND charities ever since, including an ultramarathon that took him through Hull in December.
Julie was diagnosed with MND in May 2023. Les said: “It was the day after when Kevin Sinfield lifted Rob Burrows out of the wheelchair at the Leeds marathon and kissed him.
“Me and my wife were watching in the kitchen; I said to Julie, ‘The loving bond between them too is unbelievable isn’t it?’ The next day, we went to see a neurologist, and they gave us the devastating news she had MND and there is no cure. It turned our whole life upside-down.”
(Image: Supplied)
Sadly, Julie died last year, aged 61. Les said: “She was the salt of the earth. She was a great wife and a great mother to my kids. If you met her yourself, you would just fall in love with her. She was a lovely person.
“It’s a horrendous disease and I want to profile it as much as I can and get it out there, we need to deal with this disease today and not tomorrow. That’s what I fight for.”
Les initially hoped to raise a modest £5,000 and said the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal “can’t believe what I’ve done”. He has pledged to raise money every year until the disease is cured. Next year, he plans to cycle 400 miles and raise £40,000.
Sinfield personally recorded Les a heartfelt message wishing him luck with his coast-to-coast cycling challenge and told him he was doing “an incredible job”.
Les believes there is currently not enough support for people with MND. He said he was left “physically shattered and on the verge of a breakdown” during Julie’s illness, with his daughter and two sons the only thing that kept him going. “People just need help, they really do,” he said.
He added: “I love my wife to pieces. It’s a horrendous disease, absolutely horrendous. I decided to help people. And to raise the amount of money I have, I couldn’t believe it, to be honest.”
Nearly £9,000 of the £20,000 total was donated via Les’ Just Giving page which is still open.