Mum defies MS to cycle to Paris to see daughter in world championships - The Redditch Standard

Mum defies MS to cycle to Paris to see daughter in world championships

Redditch Editorial 12th Aug, 2015 Updated: 18th Oct, 2016   0

A BRAVE mum has defied the debilitating effects of Multiple Sclerosis to cycle 130 miles to Paris to see her daughter compete in the World Jump Competition – an international skipping event.

Not only that but in the process Sharon Allum has raised over £1,100 for the MS Society – with the cash still rolling in.

Sharon, aged 49, was diagnosed the the incurable condition ten years ago and the furthest she’d cycled before her French adventure was from Studley to Stratford and back.

“It was my husband Russell’s idea after we heard that Elly, our daughter, was going to compete in Paris – he said, ‘let’s cycle there.’ I said okay and then said, ‘let’s raise some money as well while we do it’,” she said.




“We started planning at Christmas but training had barely got started when I suffered a relapse, but after treatment my symptoms slowly disappeared.

“I was struggling with walking, although cycling was all right; my muscles were fine it was just about sending the signals to the nerve endings that was causing the problem,” said Sharon, who works for Bristow and Sutor.


“I set up a Just Giving Page and took sponsorship forms into both my own Russell’s work. I wasn’t hoping for much and my first target was £150, but within 24 hours friends, relatives and some strangers touched by MS had surpassed it. I raised the bar again and then again and I was proud to have reached £500 by the time we left England.”

The trip, on 15 year-old secondhand bikes, took them three days following a quiet 130 mile route designed by experienced cyclist Donald Hirsch.

“A few more donations came in and blew my target out the water again,” said Sharon.

With Elly and her Team GB friends doing well in the World Championships the couple made a donation of their bikes to the people of Paris before jetting back to Britain.

If you want to donate to Sharon’s MS appeal, visit www.justgiving.com/Sharon-Allum/ .

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