RideLondon: Family touched by £50k donations in wake of Robin Chard's death
The sister of a man who died in the RideLondon event after surviving cancer as a child has said the family is "touched" after a huge spike in donations towards his charity appeal.
Robin Chard, 48, from Bicester, suffered a cardiac arrest after about 25 miles (40km) in Sunday's cycling event and died in hospital.
He hoped to raise £400 for Cancer Research UK but funds have hit £50,000.
Andrea Day, 43, said the family was "very touched by the kind messages".
"As you can imagine, we are all very shocked and saddened by the news of his passing," she said.
"He was a beloved son, husband, father, brother and friend to so many and will be sorely missed."
Mr Chard was taking part in the 100-mile (160km) event as a "personal crusade" after his father and stepfather died from lung cancer.
He himself had survived Hodgkin Lymphoma as a child.
Ed Aspel, executive director of fundraising at Cancer Research UK, said: "We are very grateful that he chose to cycle in RideLondon to support Cancer Research UK, and would like to express our deepest sympathy to his loved ones at this difficult time."
RideLondon said Mr Chard suffered a cardiac arrest at Kingston Bridge "and although he received immediate treatment from fellow riders and medical personnel at the scene, he died later in Kingston Hospital".
More than 29,000 riders took part in the event. Of these, 33 were taken to hospital, three had serious injuries, the organisers said.
What is RideLondon?
- The 100-mile (160km) cycle event is dubbed the London marathon on wheels
- It's part of a festival of cycling in which more than 100,000 cyclists take part
- First RideLondon was in 2013 as part of London Olympic "legacy"
- Events include the 100, the Classic (for top male professionals) the Classique (the richest women's one-day race in cycling) and FreeCycle (for families).