Cyclists from Burrough Green and Saxon Street, near Newmarket, head to Paris in support of six-year-old Jake and the transplant games

Two cyclists are setting off on a 400km journey from London to Paris on Saturday in support of their nephew Jake Rice, who underwent a life-saving liver transplant when he was just three years old.

Richard Totman, from Burrough Green, and Mike Feczko, from Saxon Street, will be joined by six other devoted dads, and one teenage transplant recipient, as they pedal from the capital’s Kings College Hospital, where Jake was treated after he suddenly contracted a virus which attacked his liver.

His grandmother Ann Totman, who lives in Upend, near Newmarket, said the family were told the best chance Jake had was to receive a transplant from his mother Olivia. She donated 25 per cent of her liver and after surgery Jake spent two weeks in the intensive care unit and five weeks on the Ray of Sunshine paediatric liver ward.

“Since Jake’s transplant it has been very challenging to adjust to this new life. He spends countless days in hospital being poked and prodded,” said Ann.

“He takes an endless list of medication which will continue for the rest of his life and every single time he gets a fever he is rushed to the hospital.

“One of the many difficulties of being on immunosuppressants means he gets sick often and his body can’t fight it as easily as other children his age.”

Ann explained that Jake, now six, and his family spend the winters living in Miami but in the summer, when Jake’s father Max is working in Europe, they come to stay with her and are due to arrive at the end of May.

In August, Jake is due to take part in the British Transplant Games, which will be held in Oxford with an opening ceremony at Blenheim Palace.

It will be the third time he has competed in the games, taking part previously at Coventry and Nottingham, and he has won six gold medals. His uncles’ marathon cycle ride will be raising funds to support the games.

“The games play a vital role in the mental and physical wellbeing of transplant kids and, just as importantly, the event raises awareness about organ donation and how many lives it saves,” said Ann, who will also be taking part in a special donor run on August 2 at Blenheim, which is aimed at not only raising awareness of organ donation but also paying tribute to live donors, like her daughter Olivia and the donor families whose actions have given the gift of life to so many.

So far Richard and Mike and the King’s Children’s Transplant Team have raised £16,000 and Ann, her daughter Natasha, who is Mike’s wife, and her daughter-in-law Sammy, who is married to Richard, and four grandchildren will be heading to a campsite at Maisons-Lafitte for a rendezvous with the cyclists on Monday before they cycle the last 20km to the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately Jake won’t be there as he is not arriving back in the UK until May 31,” said Ann, “but he will be there in spirit supporting his uncles and the rest of the team.”

For more information on the charity's support for the team, go to https://supportkings.org.uk/what-you-make-possible/difference-were-making/british-transplant-games