Nine heart patients completed a 110 mile cycling tour of the Northumberland coast at the Freeman Hospital’s Institute of Transplantation (IOT) today.
The Electric Cranks Cycling Club are a group of heart transplant and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients from the Freeman Hospital and Wythenshaw Hospital (Manchester). They hold an annual bike ride to raise funds for the New Start Charity, which supports the Heart and Lung Transplant Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, and this year decided to finish at the IOT in Newcastle.
Their epic 110 mile ride started in Berwick-upon-Tweed, going via Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, Seahouses, Craster, Alnmouth, Newbiggin, Tynemouth Priory, then over to the Freeman Hospital.
Ged Higgins, founder of Electric Cranks Cycling Club, said: “Since we started out back in 2019, Electric Cranks has raised over £11,000 for heart patients. I’m incredibly proud to say that we have also successfully inspired transplant and heart failure patients across the UK to try to be more physically active.
“There are so many physical and psychological benefits of outdoor activities and cycling on an electric bike can be liberating and empowering. Riding with the Electric Cranks is fun, and offers freedom and friendship, all in a single bike ride. It’s always a grand day out with the Cranks and we all hope to have many more years of riding together ahead of us.”
It was the suggestion of Hugh Brazier, a Freeman LVAD patient who joined their 2024 Electric Cranks Cycling Club ride, that they extend their route by another nine miles on to the Freeman site this year.
Hugh is 71 and has dilated cardiomyopathy, which was first diagnosed almost 40 years ago when he was in his early thirties. In 2021, after his health declined, Hugh had a LVAD implanted at the Freeman Hospital.
He said: “After the operation to have the LVAD, the Freeman began to feel like my second home. And that’s the way it still is. I have been completely bowled over by the expertise, the care, the friendliness, and the friendships I have found here – both among other patients and among the staff. I particularly want to mention the LVAD team of Andy, Sian and Jen. Very much my friends, as well as looking after my clinical needs.”
Hugh first came across the Electric Cranks in 2022 and met some of them at the end of their Hadrian’s Wall coast-to-coast ride that summer. After trying an e-bike soon after, he started to join the group for bike rides.
He added: “Riding the bike is so good for me and I enjoy the sense of freedom that it brings. What is more important, though, is the understanding, companionship and friendship that I get from the Electric Cranks. I’m so proud to be taking part today and to be able to end the ride at the Freeman, where I can thank some of the people involved in my care.”
