Boy with cystic fibrosis inspires Wymondham’s Michael Meadows to cycle the French Alps

Stuart Anderson

Published: 4:40 PM July 11, 2017

Updated: 11:09 AM October 10, 2020

Michael Meadows, from Wymondham, is in training for a cycle in the French Alps to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Picture: Courtesy Michael Meadows - Credit: Archant

The 13-year-old son of a friend who lives with cystic fibrosis has inspired a Wymondham man to embark on a 178km cycle in the French Alps.

Michael Meadows, from Wymondham, is in training for a cycle in the French Alps to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Pictured here is the Yearsley family, whose son, Struan, inspired the fundraising effort. Picture: Courtesy Michael Meadows - Credit: Archant

Michael Meadows, 43, is heading to France to take part in the Etape du Tour on July 16, which covers a mountainous stage of the Tour de France.

Mr Meadows, a Natural England ornithologist, said he was raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust because young Struan Yearsley, the son of his friends Karen and Roger, lives with the genetic condition.

He said: 'Each day Struan has to take a multitude of drugs and repeatedly perform physio.

'That kind of life just doesn't seem fair for a 13-year-old boy.

'He has to put up with a lot. Like me, Struan is a keen cyclist and has completed the 48-mile Glasgow to Edinburgh cycle.'

Mr Meadows said there were new and better treatments for the condition which could be brought forward with more funding.