Student gets on her bike for charity
A Lancaster University student has achieved her ambition of learning to ride a bike in order to raise money for a premature baby charity.
Lyndsey Sterritt, who’s 22, raised £850 for Bliss after a sponsored ride around campus. She was herself born 12 weeks early weighing just 1.3kg and was cared for in a hospital neo-natal unit.
She said: “I’m lucky in that I’ve overcome being born prematurely although I did things later than other children.
“Riding a bike was a real achievement for me because I’d had massive issues with balancing.”
Her friends helped out by standing on either side of her to catch her if she fell off.
“I started sitting on the bike to try and balance – but that didn’t work.
“Then I tried coasting downhill without pedalling in order to learn how to steer.That was better but when I tried to run-start the bike, I fell off continually.Luckily I’ve got some great friends who stood on either side to catch me if I fell so I just pedalled and pedalled.”
The charity Bliss sent her a kangaroo suit for her sponsored bike ride around campus – but this was more than a gimmick.
Lyndsey said: “Bliss is researching the benefits of kangaroo care, when a baby is placed in contact with its parent’s chest, like a young kangaroo in its mother’s pouch. Research suggests these babies have regular heart rates and increased oxygen levels.”
She is currently studying for an MSc in e-Business and Innovation at the University’s Management School.Her father David said: “It’s quite an achievement for her to have gone to university and done all that she has because starting life as a premature baby isn’t easy.”