A RECYCLING centre attendant from Crosshill got on his bike to raise £1625 for sick kids by cycling from Glasgow to Fife.

John O’Hare (48), of St Ronan’s Crescent, pedalled 64 miles from Celtic Park to Cardenden – hometown of tragic Hoops ‘keeper John Thomson – as part of the ‘125 For 125’ sponsored bike ride for the Celtic FC Foundation.

The Foundation had agreed that John could pay the £125 minimum sponsorship fee, and use the cycle to raise cash for the Schiehallion ward at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill).

The challenge, last September, was a thank-you to Yorkhill, where John’s niece Georgie Edwards, now seven, was treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for more than two years.

John, a granddad of two, said, “Georgie was diagnosed in 2011 aged four and we were just devastated.

“We went to visit her in hospital and it was just heartbreaking to see what she and all the other children were going through.

“They lost their hair but they just sit there with a wee smile on their face.

“They all look so happy and yet it’s so traumatic what they’re going through, and some of them don’t make it.

“We all complain about things but these just pale into insignificance when you see those kids.

“The thought that we would lose her was always at the back of our minds because not all the kids make it out of there.

“Georgie was very brave and you never heard her complain. The nurses thought she adapted fantastically.” John put up a sign at Dalgety Bay recycling centre, where he works, about his cycle and West Fifers gave generously.

The Hoops fan said, “People were just coming in and asking what was and what it was for and when I told them, everybody gave a donation.

“It didn’t matter what club they supported, everybody just thought it was a good cause.

“The day of the cycle was miserable with wind and rain but I knew I had to complete it because of what it was for – I couldn’t go back and say to everybody I didn’t do it!” Georgie endured regular lumbar punctures, transfusions and intensive chemotherapy, and suffered complications when she caught flu, which turned into pneumonia.

Happily, she has now been off treatment for a year, although she still has regular check-ups.

John added, “When we went back to the hospital to hand over the cheque, it was a wee boost for the nurses too because she was one of the ones who made it.

“A massive thank-you to everyone who donated.”