Life was cruel ! All of my children died in their 40s

Mavis Paterson

An 85-year-old gran who lost all her adult children in their 40s is cycling around Scotland in their memory – and has raised nearly £55,000 for charity. Gran-of-three Mavis Paterson set off on April 29 and hopes to finish on May 29.

She uses cycling as a distraction from the loss of her three adult children. Mavis celebrated her 85th birthday with a party in Moffat, Scottish Borders, on May 24 before persevering on her trek.

Wild weather proved a major challenge and on May 4 in Ballahulish, near GlenCoe, Highlands, she was nearly blown over. Generous donors have raised £54,349 for Macmillan Cancer Support, although none of Mavis’ children died from the disease.

Her son Sandy died of a heart attack aged 43, Katie died from viral pneumonia aged 49, and Bob died aged 47 in an accident. Mavis, from Auchenmalg, Dumfries and Galloway, is close to her grandchildren and has a big support network of friends. She said losing a child is an unrecoverable form of loss.

Mavis said: “I start cycling at 9am and finish at 5pm. When I was training the weather was horrible but I had to just get out and do it.

“It’s just beautiful and the people are so nice. I’ve got no surviving children, they were all taken and left me.

“I’ve had to cope with it and cycling has helped. I remember saying to Katie ‘imagine losing a child’ – that’s happened to me now.

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“Before Bob died I thought ‘we’ll have each other’. I’ll never get over what’s happened to me.

“I’m raising money for Macmillan as my sister and mum both had cancer. I’ve got wonderful grandchildren and wonderful friends.

“It’s cruel all that’s happened to me. My cycling helps, I can’t go on living thinking and thinking about my children. I get on my bike.

Mavis Paterson is cycling 1,000 miles across Scotland in 30 days

“When I’m talking to people it’s like therapy. The worst thing as a parent is losing a child. You can get over the death of your husband, or your mother and father, but losing a child lives with you forever.”

In 1991 Mavis got into cycling after years of running marathons, when she started having issues with her knees. She has also cycled across America and Canada, wild camping along the way.

Mavis said: “I must thank all my supporters, it’s been amazing.”