Martin Ashburn is taking on a 140 mile Coast to Coast cycling challenge this weekend
Kristy Dawson Multi-Media Journalist
12:31, 03 Oct 2025
Martin Ashburn(Image: Chronicle Live)
A dad was diagnosed with a life-limiting disease after experiencing twitching in his upper body. Martin Ashburn visited the doctor after suffering from weakness in his right hand and twitching in his arm and shoulders.
The 62-year-old, from Spital Tongues, Newcastle, was shocked to learn that he had motor neurone disease – a rapidly progressing condition which causes muscle weakness and has no cure. He said: “Initially it was just weakness in my right hand and not being able to grip things as well as I wanted to.
“My muscles were twitching in my arms and shoulders but it didn’t hurt. These two symptoms made me go to the doctors and it took a long time to get the doctors to refer me.
“It was a big shock when I first heard. For the first week, there were times when I would burst into tears and then gradually I kind of came to terms with it.
“I had heard about it but I didn’t know a lot about it. When I got the diagnosis I started to read more about it and the figures were quite stark – 50% of people die between two and five years.
“I think my family were thinking the worst case scenario but I’m still here and I’m still doing things. They tell me I’m still the same person and it’s brought us closer as a family.”
Martin with his wife Rachel and their three children(Image: Chronicle Live)
Martin is married to Rachel, 60, and they are parents to Nathan, 29, Jake, 27, and Martha, 22. The family own an escape rooms business in Newcastle city centre called Escape Key.
Martin said: “I still run my own business but over the course of last year, and this year, it’s got harder and harder. I’m stepping back from it a bit more now. I can hardly get up the stairs so I’m passing on what I think will be useful to my son Jake.”
The dad-of-three was given the life changing diagnosis in December 2023 and has been supported by the Motor Neurone Disease Association’s Tyne and Wear group, where he attends monthly meetings. He said: “For a good few months I didn’t feel it affect me too much. Then the grip got worse and putting my socks on and doing buttons became pretty difficult.
Martin Ashburn with his wife Rachel(Image: Chronicle Live)
“I used to go to the gym a lot and I found that what I could lift was getting less and less. My arms started getting tired. Now it’s quite an effort to move my arms or pick up a towel from the floor, I’ve lost a lot of muscle.”
Martin said the disease has began to affect his muscles as well as his breathing and he now sometimes relies on the help of a ventilator. He said: “My legs have started to weaken in the last six months and I have to be careful where I stand. I’m still walking but I can’t walk very far. I try to keep walking to a minimum.”
Martin Ashburn with his sons Nathan (left) and Jake (right)
Martin, who is a keen adventure sports enthusiast and mountain biker, will give back to the charity this weekend by taking on a 140 mile Coast to Coast cycle route from Whitehaven, Cumbria, to Tynemouth, North Tyneside. He said: “I have always been quite active. I used to run the tennis club in Leazes Park but I can’t do that anymore. Cycling is one of the few activities I can still do.”
As some aspects of cycling have become difficult for him – pedalling uphill and pulling the brakes to slow down – he has had a bike created especially for him by Recyke y’bike. The charity, based in Byker, Newcastle, restores and rebuilds bikes for the community.
The team adapted the bike with a back-pedal braking system, a battery-powered front wheel for assisted pedalling and a custom gear-shifting mechanism using a brake lever, tailored to Martin’s weakened grip.
The adaptations to Martin’s bike(Image: The MND Association)
Martin said: “My friends have rallied around and designed me a bike so that I can brake by peddling backwards rather than having to pull the brake. It’s so nice, it’s a real testament of friendship.
“They are coming on the ride with me and my sons are both doing it with me. My wife is going to be in the van as back up with the ventilator and tools. I’m looking forward to the camaraderie.”
The businessman said that since his diagnosis he has been living life to the full and doing all of the activities he previously put off including kayaking, paragliding and go-karting.
He said: “It was a wake up call to my friends. They realised something could happy to any of us at anytime so we started doing lots of activities that we had put off.
“In 2024 I had a busy year and I wrote a book called ‘My Wonderful Life’. My daughter said I should write some of my stories down so I started doing that. It was quite therapeutic.”
Martin’s Coast To Coast team(Image: The MND Association)
Martin and his team will set off from Whitehaven at around 11am on Friday morning and aim to reach Tynemouth in North Tyneside by 5pm on Sunday evening. He set up a Just Giving page with the aim of raising £5,000 for the Tyne and Wear Group of the MND Association and donations have already passed £6,800.
He added: “I’m looking forward to it but it’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
ChronicleLive has created a dedicated WhatsApp community for breaking news and our biggest stories. You can join this WhatsApp community here. It will keep you up-to-date with news as it breaks and our top stories of the day sent directly to your phone.