Twickenham's Emily Swan, who was inspired to take up her first ever cycle challenge to help raise funds for a cancer-suffering friend, has now raised over £100,000 Twickenham Nub News is delighted to announce.

Back in February, we told of how Emily planned to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats to support Gareth 'Gaz' Emmerson, aged 29, who has been battling a rare form of cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma for the last 7 years.

At the time Emily, 30, who works as an assistant team manager at Waitrose in Richmond, told Nub News: "I met my close friend Gaz in 2013 at a music festival in Belgium.

"A small group of us instantly became friends and we all spent the rest of the festival having lots of fun together. This friendship was like no other as we are all still such close friends eight years down the line.

"Over the years we have been able to enjoy our shared love of music by going to a vast number of gigs and festivals making long lasting memories together. In fact, most of my treasured memories and laughs have Gaz in them! He is so much fun to be around and has a fantastically positive energy."

She added: "Gaz's outlook on life and sheer determination is absolutely inspiring."

Last week Emily and her team of cyclists were celebrating after clocking up 977 miles and raising £101.255 for Sarcoma UK.

That figure now sits at a staggering £108,185.

advertisement

Emily added: "Gaz decided that he wanted to turn the negative in to a positive and wanted to raise as much money and awareness for Sarcoma UK.

"Gaz trained for the ride whilst undergoing chemotherapy - this is testament to the kind of person that Gaz is - inspirational!

"His fiancé, his dad, another friend and myself joined him as well as two other friends. Although each day was tough, we had the best time and we were met by friends and family along the way. Gaz ended up with a knee injury half way through but soldiered on even though he was in pain!

"The money we have raised will make a huge impact to this charity that receives no government funding. This will fund a specialised and highly trained bioinformatician to do complex genetic data analysis and fund the laboratory costs of a PhD student over a four-year project!

"Unfortunately the money we raised won't be able to help Gaz but will help future Sarcoma sufferers.

"Thank you to everyone that has supported us along the way! It has been an amazing experience to take part in this alongside my friend Gaz but even more amazing the money raised for Sarcoma UK will be able to support others in a similar situation. Gaz, you're an inspiration to us all!"

Follow Gaz's story on Instagram @gaz_emmerson. Donate via his justgiving page here.