Caerphilly man cycled 205 miles in memory of late dad

Steven Coleman, 61, an ambulance care assistant for the Trust’s Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service, set off from his childhood home in Nelson in Caerphilly, and three days later reached St David’s Hospice at Holyhead’s Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley.

Mr Coleman said: "I had started with the Welsh Ambulance Service in January 2020, and shortly after we found out my father had stage four cancer and was terminal.

"My managers were brilliant and arranged for me to transfer down south to be near the family and work my shifts from stations at Bargoed, Merthyr and Aberdare, areas I know very well from my upbringing.

"We lost dad just days into the first lockdown. He was 89 and we were unable to get him home or into a hospice.

"Since the funeral and due to the restrictions, I had only been able to get down the A470 once to visit my mum, which was very tough. It’s difficult to talk on the phone as she’s mostly deaf now.

"To be honest, I was struggling with everything and felt like the challenge and time alone would help me process and come to terms with things."

Mr Coleman's father, Bill, was in South Wales Police for 30 years, and for several years the family lived in the police house at Nelson – the place Mr Coleman still calls his childhood bedroom.

With his partner, Shey, working at the St David’s Hospice unit in Holyhead, the route was decided on.

“I hadn’t owned a bike since I was about 12-years-old,” said Mr Coleman.

“It took me about five months to find the right bike as due to lockdown many of the shops had sold out.

“I’m six foot six inches tall and 18 stone so I needed quite a sturdy one.”

On the Saturday before setting off last month, Mr Coleman arranged to meet some old school classmates from 1L Form at Lewis Boys Grammar School for a small reunion, some of whom even came to wave him off on the Monday.

Steven Coleman, centre, with some old school friends who came to wave him off

“Spending the weekend in the village was good for my mental health as many people remembered my father and spoke of how kind he was, even though he’d arrested a few of them,” added Mr Coleman.

In a twist of fate, Mr Coleman discovered the old police house was now a guest house called Sergeants Accommodation, and was able to arrange to stay in his childhood bedroom.

His first day saw him go the 65 miles from Nelson to Rhayader and proved challenging.

Mr Coleman said: “I had some issues with the sat-nav. It sent me on cycle route eight, but somewhere between Merthyr and Storey Arms it sent me round the back of the reservoir on a dirt track across the Beacons.

“I had to push the bike in torrential rain for about two miles. Although I had proper wet weather gear on, I was soaked to the bone and all my clothes in the panniers were drenched too.

“The pub I stayed in that night didn’t have anywhere for me to dry my clothes.”

For Mr Coleman - a keen amateur rugby player who previously served with the Royal Air Force and North Wales Police - it was day two that would prove the toughest and take him the 85 miles from Rhayader to Tremadog via Machynlleth.

“The stretch over the tops from Llanidloes to Mach was a killer,” he said.

“Physically, if I was going to pack it in it would have been there. It certainly focused the mind.

“I had a few moments there on the second day thinking about dad and what had happened.”

It was nearly 11pm before he arrived in Tremadog. His phone battery had run out and the lights on his bike had failed but luckily he knew the area and roads well.

Day three was a shorter 55-mile ride to Holyhead which was hampered by some strong winds and rain across Anglesey.

Mr Coleman said: “When I got back and spoke to mum, she had put another donation in and said to me that dad would have been really proud of me.

“That really topped it off and I feel a lot better now. Just those three days alone on the ride really helped me.

“You’ve got your thoughts to contend with and you can’t rely on anyone – it’s lucky I’m so stubborn.”

The finishing line in Holyhead

Setting off with a target of raising £500 for the hospice, he has raised more than £2,000 and said: “I wanted to raise as much money as I could so that they can continue to provide the help, support and respite when end-of-life care is needed.

“We as a family would have appreciated this type of service had we been able to make use of it last year.

“I’d like to thank everybody who has donated and supported me along the way, especially my colleagues in the ambulance service who waved at me along the way and my manager Beth Roberts who was instrumental in getting me relocated closer to my family at a difficult time.”

Beth Roberts, the Trust’s Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service Operational Manager in North Wales, said: “When a colleague is facing a family emergency we always do our best to make things easier and offer all the support we can.

“With the support of the Resource Team in North and South, we were able to facilitate Steven’s temporary move down South allowing him to be close to his family at their time of need.

“We are all very proud of Steven for taking on this challenge and raising a fantastic amount for a worthy cause whilst also taking positive steps to deal with his own grief.

“Congratulations from everybody at the Welsh Ambulance Service.”

Andrew Everley, Head of Fundraising for St David’s Hospice, added: “Steven’s achievement is one to be extremely proud of, both in terms of the cycling challenge and the amount fundraised.

“His support is much valued, with the monies raised playing a vital part in funding essential hospice services.

“Without ‘Hospice Heroes’ like Steven we wouldn’t be able to keep the hospice doors open. Well done and thank you, Steven.”

There’s still a few days left to make a donation to St David’s Hospice to recognise Mr Coleman's great effort. You can access his fundraising page here.