A CHARITY champion's epic cycling challenge in memory of his late wife came to a crashing halt - after a horror accident just 40 yards from his front door.

John Lawson, 53, was aiming to cycle 20 miles a day during August to raise funds for Target Ovarian Cancer after his wife Marianne sadly passed away from the disease in 2018.

However, just 11 days into his challenge, John came off his bike close to his home in West Kilbride after was rushed to hospital, where he required a five hour operation to rebuild his elbow.

He explained: “I am absolutely gutted that I had to cut my challenge short.

"It was quite ironic that I crashed literally 40 yards from my own doorstep.

“I was in agony and thankfully a couple of neighbours came out to help and one took me to Crosshouse Hospital.

“All my weight landed on my arm and effectively smashed my elbow to pieces. I was in surgery for five hours to piece it together again.

“The surgeon said it was the worst injury of that type he’d seen for many years and now I have various bits of metal holding all the bone fragments together.”

John says he is heartbroken that the challenge was stopped prematurely - but is determined to get back on the bike as soon as he can.

He said: “I am absolutely gutted to not complete the challenge. I have done thousands of miles on my bike and the one time I am riding for charity, I crash.

“It was going so well and I was managing to ride around 26 miles every day, which I was really pleased with.

“I am likely to only get about 80 per cent mobility back in my elbow, which is a bit of a shock too.

“I’m not sure when I’ll be able to complete the challenge, I can’t see it being this side of the year, but I’m desperate to finish it when I can.

“I have to thanks the orthopaedic team at Crosshouse for their fantastic work patching me up."

Despite his fall, John has still raised more than £5,000 for the charity and hailed the 'unbelievable' support he has received.

He added: “The generosity of people has been absolutely fabulous, I can’t believe I’ve raised so much without completing the challenge.

“Nobody has asked for their money back as hopefully they know I will finish it as soon as I can.

“I have to thank everyone who has donated; family, friends, work colleagues, and even people who have heard through word of mouth and been so kind.”

You can pledge to John’s challenge at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/august620