FORMER rugby player Kris Lowe has bounced back from horrific injuries to complete a 163-mile bike ride for charity.

Kris, 34, of Flixton, has not played rugby since suffering a broken neck while playing for Carrington last year, but took up cycling as a way of getting back to fitness.

He completed the gruelling three day ride from County Waterford in Ireland to Manchester over Easter weekend, to raise money for the Francis House hospice in Didsbury.

Kris’s friends Ian and Mike McGrath suggested the ride in memory of their cousin Nathan Drohan, who spent some time in the hospice.

Nathan, who moved to Manchester from Ireland with his mother, died of cancer aged 13 in October 2008.

Kris said: “Nathan was a very active kid for someone who had cancer. He was full of spirit and a real battler. He joined the air cadets even though he lost one of his legs from the knee down.”

With friends Mike Shepherd and Stephen McNamara, they set off from Nathan’s home town, Trahmore, to Dublin, before catching the ferry to Liverpool and cycling back to Manchester.

Together with money raised by a charity event in Trahmore before the ride started, the five have smashed their target of £5,000, with donations currently standing at £8,743.

Donations can be made until mid August, and they are now hoping to raise £10,000 for the hospice.

Kris said: “We would like to thank our families and everyone who has been so generous.”

You can donate at justgiving.com/nathansrevenge