Taplanes Sales Engineer Jonathan Braunton recently took part in a charity Coast2Coast bike ride in memory of one of his friends and former colleagues from Vest Construction.
Jonathan and his fellow cyclists were hoping to raise around £5000 to help find a cure for CJD (Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease) in memory of Darren Cooke, who tragically lost his life to the sporadic version of the disease on October 27th 2020 following a diagnosis just two weeks earlier.
CJD is a rare and fatal condition that affects the brain. It is caused by an abnormal infectious protein called a prion. The prions accumulate at high levels in the brain and cause irreversible damage to nerve cells.
The effects of the prion accumulation are very rapid, only 2 months prior to his passing, Darren was cycling 70 plus miles around County Durham and the Yorkshire Dales. His passing was a massive loss and most of the people taking part in the ride knew him for 20+ years.
Darren took part in two C2C rides in the past few years over two days and his colleagues said he would have absolutely hated the idea of doing the ride in one day, so what better way to honour his memory than to take on the challenge of doing just that.
Speaking after the event, Jonathan said: “What an amazing day with such a wonderful group of people. All home safely with no major problems, not even a flat tyre. Super organisation from Lynsey Brough and Gavin Vest for such a great cause in memory of Darren. A massive thank you for the support and kind donations.”
The total raised for CJD in memory of Darren was £5445.00 and we are very proud of Jonathan and his fellow cyclists taking on the biggest cycling challenge of their lives.
