Charity hero in coma after heart attack

FUNDRAISING champion . . . Phil Buckley

A RETIRED policeman who has raised thousands for charity through international bike rides is in a coma after having a heart attack while cycling.

Grandad Phil Buckley, who turned 69 last Thursday, worked closely with Oldham's Asian community during his decades on the beat and even learned to speak some Urdu and Sylheti.

Shocked

The former racing cyclist, who won a silver medal in the 1971 UK National Track Championships, raised thousands for charities including the Just Help Foundation through trips across Bangladesh on a mountain bike.

He had a heart attack during a bike ride in Oldham earlier this month and remains at Manchester Royal Infirmary. His son Chris (37) said he was shocked his normally strong and healthy father had suffered a heart attack.

Chris said: "He doesn't drink alcohol apart from a bit of Baileys at Christmas and has never smoked.

"He has never really been ill apart from the odd cough or cold. He would ride his bike every day. As well as his family, cycling is what he lives for."

Chris said his father, who also has two daughters and four grandchildren, had received many messages of support.

He added: "He was so well known to the people living there and to the Asian community. This is a white, middle-aged policeman who would go up to them and speak in their native tongue, which people hadn't seen before.

"I have even had messages from people he has arrested who have since gone on to change their ways who have thanked my dad for steering them on to the right track.

"The doctors have said they are not very hopeful, which is really upsetting. He is never going to be the same again, we know that, but I have heard of people who have had similar heart attacks and then have gone on to recover. We are trying to stay positive."

The family, including Chris' mother Anne and daughters Lisa and Donna, visit Phil at MRI every day to read and play music to him.

Chris said: "We also try and bring round things that smell familiar to him - he loves coffee so we bring ground coffee for him to smell. We aren't sure he can see us, we just have to take it day by day."