Portsmouth pals cycle 55 miles and raise over £4,000 for Macmillan

On September 11, Portsmouth friends Matt Burnett, Sonny Dobson, Sam Sargeant, Shaun Legg and Dave Pike completed the London to Brighton cycle ride, raising £4,360 for cancer charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, in the process.

When Kayley Burnett received the diagnosis of colon cancer in July last year, her family were ‘knocked for six.’ She has since had 80 per cent of her bowel removed and, after a ‘gruelling’ year, got the news that the cancer had been removed.

Kayley said: ‘It was all so quick, I got told I had cancer and 10 days later I was in for a 12-hour operation. Macmillan was amazing throughout the cancer treatment, if I didn’t have them, I think I would have fallen apart.

Kayley’s husband Matt added: ‘I promised [Kayley] last year, that I would do something for Macmillan, they have been loads of help. We wanted to do something to repay them, they’re great, they helped her talk to somebody, helped out with the kids, gave her advice, pointed her in the right direction on how to get things, and helped financially.’

Matt was joined on his cycle by Kayley’s brother Sonny, and three of their friends who – despite facing trials on the day such as a dislocated knee and broken bike chain – finished the 55-mile race in just over four hours.

‘My brother’s knee completely dislocated and cramped all the way up, he ended up falling off the bike. He managed to get back on, he said he got back on because he was doing it for me,’ said Kayley.

Matt said: ‘It was a lot harder than we anticipated, we trained a fair bit, but it didn’t really prepare us. There was about 4 and a half thousand people with us on the day so you’re not alone, everyone was very encouraging.’

The group were widely supported, with Kayley’s grandparents donating £1,000 to the cause and the company Matt works for, Gable Roofing, also donating £1,000.

‘We were determined to finish it, for Kayley and for the charity,’ added Matt.