A DINAS Powys man has turned a family tragedy into a positive fundraising event by cycling more than 110miles in aid of UK Sepsis Trust.

Mike Ball and a number of friends and relatives took to their bikes to do a 110-mile trip of the Taff Trail from Penarth to Brecon and back.

The cycle ride was organised in memory of Mike's wife, 62-year old Meryam Ball, who died suddenly on December 3 last year after feeling unwell for a few days with a sore throat and flu-like symptoms.

Meryam, who ran Creative Flowers in Dinas Powys and was a keen golfer at Glamorganshire Golf Club, was rushed to Llandough Hospital, where she was diagnosed with Sepsis, double pneumonia and multiple organ failure.

She was transferred to University Hospital Wales, where she tragically died four days later.

Mike's bike ride, which started from the Penarth side of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and took more than 15 hours over two hard days of riding, raised more than £2,000 for UK Sepsis Trust.

His daughters, Sarah and Rhian, have vowed to do everything they can to raise funds and public awareness of Sepsis.

They have already raised more than £7,000 since June and have more events planned for the future.

Their aim is to try and get all monies raised in Wales, to stay in Wales, and to ensure that no other families will suffer the heartache that they have endured.

Sarah said: “If our fundraising and awareness events can save just one family from losing a loved one, it will be worth it. Mum had such a zest for life and her funeral was attended by more than 250 people."

Sarah added: "She was so well loved. We just don’t want her death to be in vain.”

Sepsis (formerly known as Septicaemia) affects more than 100,000 people in the UK every year, with more than 37,000 losing their lives.

Sepsis also costs the NHS £2.5billion a year. In comparison, breast cancer claims less than 8,000 lives a year.

Symptoms (known as the SEPSIS SIX) are as simple as sore thoat, slurred speech, shivering and muscle pain, passing no urine (in a day), mottled skin, breathlessness, and feeling really poorly, although not all symptoms show at the same time.

For more information on Sepsis, go to the UK Sepsis Trust website: www.sepsistrust.org

If you would like to donate in Meryam’s memory, please go to: www.justgiving.com/cycle-sepsis2014