A frequently asked question when talking to members of the public is ‘why do you do it’? A fairly standard answer is to ‘give something back’ but dig deeper and there is often something more than that throwaway line. Such is the case with one of our Cheshire riders, Chris Livett.

In March 2017 Chris was diagnosed with stage four, bowel, bladder and prostate cancer. It goes without saying hearing such news is like being hit with a sledgehammer. Chris began chemotherapy immediately but perhaps more importantly for his wellbeing took a close look at his ‘bucket list’. High on the list was learning to ride a motorbike. It had been on the list for a while, both his father and grandfather had been bikers but life, as it often does, got in the way. Time to re-think priorities.

Chris immediately looked into gaining his licence and acquiring a bike. Then the next step in his battle with cancer came forward in September 2017, major surgery. Chris spent some time in hospital and on days spent looking out of the window saw Blood Bikes collecting and delivering. This struck a chord since whilst in surgery Chris had been given 9 pints of blood. At that moment he made his mind up that not only was he going to leave hospital and take the road to recovery, but he was going to progress his newfound biking passion by taking his advanced test and then joining Blood Bikes.

That first step was to contact the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) to begin training. In a moment of serendipity Chris was introduced to Steve Hunter who is not only an Observer for IAM but also the area lead for SSCBB in Cheshire. As Chris started his advanced training, he also came into contact with Steve Lord, another member of the Cheshire team. After three months of training Chris successfully passed his advanced motorcycle test with a First and applied to become a Blood Biker.

At that point you might think the story comes to an end, but no, there’s more. As part of becoming a Blood Biker you are required to attend a blood handling course which Chris duly did at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Whilst in the pathology lab he fainted and was found to have an abcess as a result of his surgery. A patient could not get any closer to where his blood samples would be analysed and a place as a Blood Biker he would be visiting frequently!!

We’re glad to report Chris has fully recovered and is progressing with induction into SSCBB and is looking forward to ‘giving something back’ in 2020.

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