| Name: | Jeremy McMahon |
|---|---|
| Nickname: | Jezza |
| Age: | 51 |
| Occupation: | Surgeon |
| Email: | jeremymcmahon@nhs.net |
What was your first bike?
A raleigh something my brother Simon had outgrown. I though it was brilliant coz you when you peddled backwards it locked the wheel up and you could do the best skids. Also you could stand on the bar going downhills- at least my bro could. I wasn't so successful and left a fair amount of skin behind with repeated attempts.
How do you know Dan?
I met Dan in a Hospital Outpatient Clinic. I got to know Dan over the next few months. He is someone who is truly impressive. I recall laying out some pretty stark issues for Dan in 2005. He responded by taking control over what was going to happen. I use to think that medical science could lay out with some degree of certainty what would happen, in a given set of circumstances, for an individual irrespective of who they were. So many of those certitudes have gone now and Dan has been a pivotal individual in changing the way I look at what I do at work. For Dan it was not the disease he had that was going to determine what would happen - no way. He was calling the shots and was not about to lie down to this and we needed to put the right team together and do whatever was necessary to sort this problem out. Well, I was fortunate enought to have terrific clinical colleagues in Sheffield, notably Thomas Carroll in Neurosurgery, Kash Purohit at Weston Park, and Austin Smith at the Hallamshire. That team did what we have been trained to do. Dan decided though, and when he couldn't take charge himself because of what he had been through, his family (notably Dave and Kerry) and friends (Tim and others) stepped up to the plate and made things happen. Dan had decided he was going to live and he has. We all live with uncertainty but it is so much more immediate for Dan. He deals with the uncertainty of living through cancer every day of his life. That reality was never going to crush Dan's Spirit (but I am very uncertain of my own resilience given the same set of circumstances). For me this event is about a remarkable individual who lives true to himself - courageous, loyal, humourous, generous. 5 years ago Dan looked a mountainous problem in the face and he did not ask any of us to lead him over it. He asked us to walk beside him and be his friend. That is what Dan taught me and that lesson is more valuable than anything I was taught at medical school or during surgical training.
Before you started training, when was the last time you cycled?
When was the last time I cycled? Can't recall, I have a 15 year old mountain bike in the garage which had perished tyres and a lot of dust.
Why have you Decided to do this Challenge?
I am embarassed and humbled when Dan ascribes his well-being to anything I have done. It is just not like that. When Dan described the event I just felt I wanted to participate in a way that reflected what happened 5 years ago. I wanted to walk (well in this case cycle) beside someone who I admire and think of as a friend and for whose life I am grateful.
What are you most looking forward to?
The banter and friendship. Some great parts of the country to cycle through
What are most worried about?
The excruciating numbness I am going to fell in my perineum and legs going round on what feels like e for empty after 60 + miles and that weird tunnel vision that comes with total exhaustion that has been a feature of my recent 50 mile training rides.
What do you want to achieve from this experience?
Getting to the other end with some new and closer freindships
How are you preparing for the challenge?
Not well enough. Still riding my old mountain bike on a couple of 30 mile rides during the week and a longer ride at weekends. New bike coming any day though.
Tell us something interesting about yourself?
My kids think I look like Beavis out of the TV show Beavis and Butt-Head
Who do you most hope to be mistaken for whilst cycling?
Definitely not Beavis out of Beavis and Butt-Head
