Horse riders from south Ceredigion joined together to support a Cardigan man recovering from cancer.

The fun ride was held in Newcastle Emlyn to raise money for Andrew Miggiano from Cardigan.

He is on a steady road to recovery after he was diagnosed with Leukaemia in the summer of 2015.

“I was in Italy polishing off my training for the Hyde park half marathon. Every time I tried to run my legs would not do anything. This went on every morning.

I was still planning to do the run but thought I would get checked out first when I got back Cardigan," said Andrew.

"A blood test was done in the morning and in the evening I got the dreaded call it was AML. They told me it was a miracle I was still standing.”

The fun ride attracted riders of all standards who took on a long day of riding.

Run by the Cardigan Charity Fundraising Appeal there was the choice of a 15 mile ride and an 8 mile ride to contend with.

The charity fundraising group hoped to raise money for Andrew and help through his time of need.

Andrew spent the day with the riders and even chose the best turned out horse.

After he was told he had a 50/50 chance of survival Andrew went through three three chemo treatments from October to February.

He said: “During that time, I have had high temperature spikes causing fevers, sickness, collapsing, weakness including loss of all my hair but that is cool as my hats look great on my head. I also lost around three stone in weight.

“My ballroom dancing partner made huge sacrifices to look after me during this period and had to put up with driving me to Carmarthen when I was not in Cardiff to check my bloods.”

Andrew is thankful for all the support in he has received from friends and people in the area.

The big test for Andrew is in May to check his bone marrow and bloods. Provided that the results are good Andrew intends to return to work.

“I have started exercising in the Teifi Leisure Centre under the NHS exercise scheme, I want to get my strength back again and I hope it will work," explained Andrew.

"In the future next year if all goes well I want to run the Rome marathon. I want to show people there is a life after cancer and it is possible to look forward and say thanks to my friends for keeping me going.”

To find out more about the work the Cardigan Fundraising Appeal does for the community visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cardigancharity.fundraisingappeal?fref=ts