My cycling journey raised thousands for charity, and changed my life forever

“It has taken me until the last six to nine months to start enjoying life again,” says Sonia Lewis.

“Cycling is definitely a part of that.” 

In June, Sonia cycled 315 miles from London to Paris to raise money for St Barnabas House, which cared for her dad and mother-in-law in their final days. Her fundraising currently stands at £4030.50. Sonia had never ridden a road bike before she signed up for the challenge after a difficult period in her life when four family members died in quick succession. 

Struggling with loss

Sonia was still grieving her mother’s 2017 death from leukaemia when her dad, Doug, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

“Dad didn’t cope very well with Mum gone and he’d just about started to get his life back together. He went on a holiday to Australia, which was brilliant, but what he didn’t tell us until after he’d got back was that he’d had some issues swallowing, alongside other concerning symptoms.  

“When he came back, he went to the hospital, got everything checked out and was told he had oesophageal cancer.  

“He died just over a year later. He was 70.” 

St Barnabas House was there for us

After a lengthy surgery, Doug was put into a coma but never fully walked again.  “He was determined to stay at home,” says Sonia. “It got quite bad which is when St Barnabas got involved. 

“I remember the first time the nurses came round, I just burst into tears when they came in. 

“It meant so much to have somebody there who could support me. I was always going to be there for him, it was just hard, without my mum. 

“I think it was only three or four days after St Barnabas staff started coming round, we asked if there was a bed. He stayed for about two weeks before he died.” 

On the day of Sonia’s dad’s funeral, the family tragically discovered that her mother-in-law Jean had oesophageal cancer too. She died six weeks later. 

“We were pretty close,” says Sonia. “My husband was very devoted to his mum, and we lived with her for two years while we were saving up for a house deposit. It was tough, especially after just losing my dad.” 

Jean wanted to stay at home and St Barnabas House helped make that possible, with community nurses visiting twice a day to keep her comfortable. 

When Sonia’s brother Adam also died of cancer two months later, she found it difficult to cope. “I didn’t know I wasn’t coping at the time,” she says.  “When I think back to that time, I remember key moments, but I don’t really remember normal things – there’s just this black hole where memories should be. 

“I was on autopilot. I felt like I had stopped feeling. 

The challenge of a lifetime

“It felt like my life was forever changed and I struggled to work out how to carry on with normal day-to-day life. My weight soared and my health began to suffer as I became breathless even walking up the stairs.

“My wonderful husband, Steve, encouraged me to start eating more healthily and encouraged me to go to spin classes at the gym. It didn’t take long before I was hooked. Eating better and exercising gave me some purpose and time to just be and not think.

“As I started to lose weight and become healthier, life started to feel like it was worth living again. The pain of losing someone you love never leaves you, but we all find ways to cope with it. For me it was exercise.” 

Sonia decided that she needed a new challenge in life and decided to take the opportunity to raise money for St Barnabas House as a thank you for what the hospice had done for her loved ones.

Sonia says: “Although at the time everything just felt so unfair to us all, when I look back now, I see that having the team from St Barnabas available to us was priceless. We will forever be grateful to them for the support that they gave to our whole family, for Jean and Dad.”