Terminal cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson has been hailed as having "greater determination than a Tour de France champion" after she finished her gruelling nine-week fundraising Ride Across America.
Six years after being told she had just six months left to live, the mother-of-three rode into New York's Battery Park and the arms of her waiting husband Mike and son Steven, nine.
After a 3,700-mile journey that she was almost too sick to begin and had previously said she wished she never embarked upon, brave Mrs Tomlinson said: "I'm just delighted to be here. It's a huge relief."
She faced repeated attacks by dogs, strong winds and temperatures of more than 120F as she completed what is thought to be the greatest endurance feat ever attempted by someone with terminal cancer.
Just two days ago her supporters considered calling off the rest of the ride as the 42-year-old's condition worsened and it looked like she would have to be taken to hospital.
Mr Tomlinson said his wife had insisted on battling on despite the challenge "lurching from one crisis to another" and several days when she could barely even walk or stand.
"But I knew the minute she started that it would take a huge injury to stop her doing this," he said. "It wasn't going to come from her feeling sick from the cancer."
Mrs Tomlinson, from Rothwell, Leeds, said: "I thought it was going to be a bit of an adventure but it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal.
"It was very difficult and there were times when I wasn't sure I would get here. I'm just overjoyed to be here and that Mike and Steven were here to see it," she added.
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One of her co-riders, Leeds University lecturer Ryan Bowd, 27, from Calgary, Canada, said he had seen the "greatest athletic and personal feat" he was ever likely to witness as she fought on despite "agony so fierce you can only appreciate it when you see it".
