Dad Puts Late Daughter’s Small Pink Bicycle to Good Use: Biking For Charity

Sep 27, 2018 by apost team

Peter Williams was the father to a fun and silly young girl named Ellie, who loved making funny faces and riding her bike. After Ellie was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October 2014, eventually to pass away in 2015, father Peter made it his mission to not only honor her memory but to contribute to the Brain Tumor Charity in the hopes of helping future families.

To accomplish each of these at once, Williams has dedicated himself to bicycle 211 miles for charity – but not just on any bicycle, he’s going to use his late daughter’s small pink one.

The tiny bike was the favorite gift of young Ellie on her last Christmas. Despite having been diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma before receiving the gift, Ellie’s father Peter speaks fondly of his memories of her riding it.

Despite the fact that Ellie was not so well off when she first received the bike, Peter describes his daughter as being "blown away," barely able to wait to try it out.

Peter describes his fond memory of how proud Ellie was of herself when first learning to ride a bike, "nearly as proud," he says, as he was. She learned the skill of riding a bike without training wheels at just three years old and loved bicycling ever since.

Ellie was diagnosed in 2014 after her parents noted that her right eye often had a strange look to it, slightly crossing and even pointing inwards at times. Ellie, being a fun and silly young girl, often made funny faces, but her parents realized soon after the look began that this was not simply the playfulness of their daughter.

Ellie's parents describe their realization that something may be wrong, stating that their world was completely thrown upside down.

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After the diagnosis, Ellie began radiotherapy for six weeks, and her parents were told she would only make it for six to twelve months. Six months later, in April 2015, young Ellie sadly passed away at Little Harbour Children’s Hospital.

Several years later, or present time, Peter was simply milling about in his shed when he saw Ellie’s tiny pink bike. Describing it as “a light bulb moment,” Peter describes how Ellie would have described him as "bonkers" for doing what he was doing.

He also examines how it will be especially challenging riding a bike that was made to fit a seven-year-old, while he himself is six feet tall.

The bicycle has not been modified at all; although, Peter explains he was tempted to purchase a larger seat, and also intends to be very careful of his physical health during this journey.

To protect his knees and back, Williams explains that he will stand on the bicycle pedals for most of the journey. In this way, he hopes to save his health to possibly do more challenges down the road.

Peter bade farewell for now to his partner Kaz and son Joe as he took off from the Children’s Hospital on Friday.

His goal of raising £10,000 ($13,000) has already been surpassed, with his JustGiving page currently having raised more than £23,000 ($30,000) after only three days.

He hopes this money will do a lot of good towards research into brain tumors and help other families be saved from heartache.

Peter’s week-long challenge begins at the hospital that treated daughter Ellie in Bristol, and spans over 200 miles, ending in Cornwall, at Land's End.

The entire journey will be made on Ellie’s pink bicycle, one of the finest remembrances that Peter has of his late daughter. “Ellie would laugh," says Peter, at the sight of him on her bike; still, he describes how his late daughter will give him inspiration the whole way.

Peter’s dedication is certainly admirable, and his story is one of persistence, fortitude, and especially selflessness in the face of tragic times. It’s a lesson we can all benefit from.