Bike challenge for Bromsgrove cancer survivor

Sep 1 2008 By Paul Bradley

A LEUKAEMIA patient is set to defy the odds by taking part in an epic bike ride across Worcestershire.

Jonjo Rooney, aged 24, from Bromsgrove, was diagnosed with the disease in 2006 after he admitted himself to hospital with back pains.

The former St Augustine’s Catholic High School pupil overcame the gruelling illness after a successful course of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Now he aims to give something back to the people who saved his life by cycling 28 miles around Worcestershire in aid of Leukaemia Research.

Jonjo, an architect in Bromsgrove, said: “After dropping into the hospital on a mid-December evening after feeling very unwell and suffering tremendous back pain, my world was rocked – I had leukaemia.

“I was taken to Worcester Royal Hospital the following day.

“Then I was kept in a tightly-confined, isolated room, where treatment began.”

Jonjo added: “I want to give something back to all the fantastic treatment which has enabled me to be here still today.

“Friends have been lost through this illness – people I have shared rooms with in hospital, laughed with, joked with and talked to.

“ I am doing this for as much in their memory as for future patients.”

To sponsor Jonjo, go to www.justgiving.com/jonjorooney