A HEART attack survivor who has completed a 260-mile bike ride has called on others to take on a challenge of a lifetime.

John Groombridge is the Dorset face of the British Heart Foundation’s campaign to promote the charity’s series of once-in-a-lifetime events which help fund life-saving research into heart and circulatory disease.

The 61-year-old completed the charity’s London to Paris Tour de France ride this year – six years after suffering a heart attack.

He said: “It was a big challenge, but the sense of achievement as I crossed the finish line was incredible. I’m already planning to do another overseas challenge and would recommend an adventure with the BHF to everyone.”

John said he put his chest pain in 2010 down to exhaustion, despite both parents having suffered from heart problems.

His mother Olga was fitted with a pacemaker before passing away two years ago and his father Roderick, 95, had to undergo a triple coronary bypass surgery.

John said: “I arrived back in the UK after an activity-filled holiday in Mexico in 2010 when I began to get chest pain. I thought I was just exhausted but thought I’d visit my GP to be on the safe side. After three weeks of tests and numerous appointments, I was asked to undergo a treadmill test. But as I was driving to the hospital, I began to feel really unwell.

“I’d only been sitting in the waiting room minutes when I suffered a massive heart attack.

“After having five stents fitted, it dawned on me that, despite being healthy and under-60, heart and circulatory disease can strike anyone at any time. I was in complete shock but I knew I had to bounce back and get fit again.”

John, who had always enjoyed cycling and rode from Bath to Bournemouth in 2011, raised £1200 for this year’s challenge which was funded by his employer DP seals.

“Training was tough, especially as I broke my wrist after falling off my bike. But there was no way I was giving up.

“The five day event was amazing. It was really inspiring to hear why my fellow Heart Riders had chosen to take part and knowing the money I had raised was helping fund research into heart disease spurred me on until the end.”

For more information go to bhf.org.uk/challenges