MS cyclist ‘dumbfounded’ by Derg’s generosity and hospitality

A MULTIPLE Sclerosis sufferer, who is cycling around the UK and Ireland to raise funds for the MS Trust, said she was ‘dumbfounded’ by the generosity of some Castlederg residents, following a chance meeting in the town’s car park.

Londoner Lis van Lynden is currently cycling around the North after completing a trip of nearly 5,000 miles around the coastline of the UK last year.

She is on a crusade to raise a total of £50,000, and, after completing her cycle around the North, is heading south of the border for the next part of her extraordinary adventure.

Last week, while travelling through Castlederg, she bumped into local MS fundraiser, John Doherty, and ended up experiencing the Derg’s much renowned hospitality.

“I met John in the car park, and after he heard my story he said, ‘This is how it’s going to work: We’re putting you up in a B&B for the night’,” said Lis.

“I just looked at him, and thought to myself, ‘What is going on here?’ I told him that I couldn’t afford a B&B, but he informed me that he was paying for it.

“I was dumbfounded to be honest, and I wondered why he would do that for a complete stranger.

“John explained who he was, what he did, and I was very close to breaking down in tears; I had never experienced such generosity.

“I got talking to him and Pat O’Loughlin – who has raised thousands of pounds for MS by running the Dublin Marathon approximately 40 times – and I was very humbled being in their company.

“They wanted to know everything about me; about what I was doing, and then they told me their stories of fundraising for MS.”

After being diagnosed with MS in 2013, and, by her admission, initially struggling to come to terms with it, Lis was inspired by reading Mike Carter’s book ‘One Man And His Bike’, chronicling his cycle around Britain.

Without any training whatsoever, and never having packed a cycling bag before, Lis jumped on the saddle on May 7 last year, and she has been peddling ever since.

Her mission is two fold: On one hand, Lis is raising much-needed funds, and on the other, she is trying to demonstrate that an MS diagnosis isn’t the be all and end all.

“I want to show the rest of the world that just because you have an MS diagnosis, does not mean that you are going to be in a wheelchair and disabled, and can’t do anything,” she added.

“There is life after diagnosis, but you have to push yourself and find your own way, that’s my biggest message. My way of doing things is not going to be the same as someone else; you have to find what works for you.

“I initially struggled for six years, but by doing this cycle, I’m trying to give people hope as much as anything else.”

Those who want to donate to Lis’s amazing fundraising effort can go to her Justgiving page at: ’www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lisvanlynden’.