The wife of cyclist Christian Smith, killed during a charity ride in Kent last month has vowed to complete his journey – and add to the £80,000 the trip has raised for charity, almost all of it donated by strangers following his death, reports the Canterbury Times.
Mr Smith, aged 38, died after being struck by a Peugeot 206 car on Old Thanet Way, 20 miles from the finish of a 248-mile, 24-hour solo ride he was undertaking for the charity Mind, from which he had himself received support in the past.
Many people raising money for Mind at last weekend’s London Marathon wore blue ribbons in his memory, and Paul Farmer, the charity’s chief executive, described a pledge by Mr Smith’s wife Katie to finish the ride as “truly inspiring.”
“We want to extend our special thanks to Katie Smith who is doing something truly inspiring by completing Christian’s challenge later in the year,” he said.
“We will be encouraging members of the public to support her in whichever way they can.”
Initially, Mr Smith was aiming to raise £1,000 for the mental health charity, but as news of his death spread beyond his friends and family and and was reported by both the local press and cycling media including road.cc, donations piled up and now stand at almost £81,000 on his Just Giving page.
A spokesman for Mr Smith’s family added: “It would be a fitting tribute to Christian’s efforts if the total raised could reach £100,000 and donations are still being taken on his page.”
Police arrested an 18-year-old woman and 19-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving in connection with Mr Smith’s death, although no charges have yet been brought.
[Comments have been disabled on this story]
As a pedestrian in the City yesterday, I did notice just how many of my fellow pedestrians seem content to walk straight across a road when it is...
Read the Hamas 1988 covenant. It makes very clear, that this is a reigious war against the Jews, (a term it use interchangeably with Zionist) and...
20 MPH outside schools and hospitals....
I once had an Explosif in Reynolds 853 with their Project 2 fork and it was one of the best mountain bikes I've ever owned. I still think about it...
It sounds very much as if this is an argument about land rights and access, not about bikes or cars. It feels a bit like the Daily Fail whipping up...
I cling on to the notions drivers/ people verbalise like "wasn't Center Parcs lovely" and "I've got no choice" in the hope that they may one day...
Friday's effort
Am I right in thinking that this has been the case in NL for over half a century (or 30 years nationally)? With a brief interruption from 2003 -...
100% agree on all points! ...
Welcome - probably didn't show as they tagged it "not near miss of the day"?