A former Suffolk police officer is taking on an epic cycle ride in a bid to save his three-year-old son.
Serving Metropolitan Police constable Paul Reynolds, who worked for Suffolk Constabulary from 2001 to 2004, will take on the 160-mile London to Paris challenge over 24 hours this month with friends and fellow officers Alan Humphrey and Tony Timthong.
They will be raising money for Harrison’s Fund – a charity that is working to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Mr Reynolds’s son Oliver was diagnosed with the fatal muscle wasting condition when he was just three months old.
Most sufferers are usually in a wheelchair by the age of 12 and die in their late teens or early twenties.
Mr Reynolds, who worked in Beccles, Felixstowe and Ipswich, before transferring to the Met, said: “When Oliver was diagnosed in 2015 our world was turned upside down.
“My wife Bhavine and I were told to take Oliver home and enjoy every minute with him. We were left feeling empty with our dreams and aspirations for our son ripped from us in an instant.
“We found Harrison’s Fund which is a small charity with massive goals. We want to get as much money as possible into the hands of the world’s best researchers, who are working to find a cure for Duchenne.
“The event is self-organised, self-funded and self-motivated and I’m fortunate that I have two very good friends, Alan and Tony, who will be joining me on this epic ride.
“Oliver is a very positive boy who loves to ride his balance bike, swim and play with friends, but knowing what he will have to cope with in the near future pushes me to help find a cure.”
The couple have another son, Max, aged one, who does not have the condition.
The trio met at the Met, but Mr Humprey has since moved to Suffolk Constabulary and currently works in the Forest Heath neighbourhood team.
The ride will set off from Marble Arch in London at 4pm on June 28 and take a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe.
In France they face around 12 hours in the saddle, setting off in darkness at 4am and aiming to get to the finish line at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris at 4pm on June 29.
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