Two and a half years ago, my good friend and godfather to my daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer which came as a huge shock to everyone, especially as he was only 30 years old.

Over the next 18 months, Matti showed incredible courage and strength to fight this terrible condition and with the incredible support from the Marsden Hospital, he was able to beat it.

To say thank you to the Marsden, I will be joining Matti in running the Windsor Half Marathon and climbing the 3 peaks of GB in the space of a month to raise money for the charity that saved my friends life!

Please donate to a wonderful cause.

I will leave you with Matti's amazing story below:

"It was an absolute shock to my friends, family and I when, in April 2012, I was diagnosed with advanced Bowel Cancer.  In the preceeding months I had noticed I was losing weight and some pain in my abdomen but I never thought, at just 30, it could have been Cancer.

Following some surgery (illieostomy - not fun!) and consultations at a local hospital I was referred to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London.  This decision would, in my opinion, have a fairly major impact in saving my life.

Over a period of 18 months I would undergo 6 surgical operations, 6 months of intravaneous chemotherapy and an intensive 6 week course of chemo-radiation (chemo combined with radiation).  During this period I also set about living as healthy and nutritious a life as I could with loads of advice from my girlfriend, family, friends and friends of friends.  My little guy Bailey (my dog) and I made sure that we were out every day walking which was a massive helped both mentally and physically..

On the 14th of February of 2013 I was informed that following a fairly major operation that I was free of any cancer and now in remission.

Unfortunately, my journey wasn't quite at an end as I would need to continue chemo treatment to ensure that all microscopic disease was killed off and was then diagnosed with a second Cancer in my Thyroid (neck).  Thankfully this form of cancer was quite treatable and, although being an annoyance, I was assured there should be no long term damage.

It's been a gruelling time for myself and those around me.  It is my intention to live life to the full going forward and completing these challenges is a big part of that.  To date, the challenges I am organising are below (although I hope to add to this):.

• The Marsden March (14 mile walk between two Marsden sites) - Sunday March 16th
• The Ridgeway (87 mile trail from North Wessex to Chilterns near Berkhamsted): March 21st - 23rd 
• Salkantay (& Inca Trail) Trek (5-7 day trek through the Andes to Machu Picchu) - May 21st - 29th
• The Three Peaks (highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland over 3 days): Thursday 24th July - Sunday 27th July

Since having my illieostomy removed I have now returned to playing football with the team I help run as well regularly running (may throw a race of some kind into this list of challenges).  Also, in December I got engaged to my girlfriend Rachel so this year is starting on a real high!

Through the course of the coming months I hope to update this page with my progress through the blog and maybe some pictures / video's.  I have a number of people joining me for the various adventures so I am hopefully we can raise a decent some for this amazing hospital in the heart of London.

Thanks to all for the support!

Cheers

Matti"