Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I will never forget the moment I learned my Dad had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, just before Christmas 2016.  It was a gut-wrenching moment, made all the more difficult in some ways by the time of year and the fact we were preparing to celebrate our son, Quinton's, first Christmas as a family.  

There were many more difficult moments to come over the coming weeks and months.  Dad was transferred to St Bart's Hospital within 10 hours of diagnosis, and spent much of the coming few months there, going through various cycles of chemotherapy.  Throughout it all, however, Dad faced his treatment with strength, patience and his life-long insistence of putting everyone else first before him.  

The initial shock and pain quickly turned into many, many questions.  I work in the healthcare sector and considered myself reasonably well informed about cancer, but I quickly realised that I knew very little about the disease, its treatment and the support available to sufferers and their families.  

In May 2017, we received the devastating news that Dad's leuekaemia was incurable and he was no-longer a candidate for the bone marrow transplant that he was at one point so close to receiving.  He returned home, where he continued to have regular blood transfusions to keep him as healthy as possible, but died on 4th July 2017.  He was 67 and died, at home (as he wanted), with his family surrounding him.  

To some extent, many of those questions I had about leukaemia when Dad was diagnosed were never really answered.  Towards the end of his life in particular, we struggled to access the support we needed to ensure he was as comfortable as possible at home.  

That is why I am running the London Marathon for Leukaemia Care.  They are an amazing charity who aim to educate, campaign and support, in particular by:

- Raising awareness of the symptoms of leukaemia, including by educating health professionals, to ensure people are diagnosed as early as possible and access the right treatments, fast. 

- Campaigning for access to effective treatments against the disease. 

- Empowering patients and their families by producing clear, high-quality, information on the disease and treatments, and organising support groups where those with leukaemia can meet with specialists and others diagnosed with the disease. 

- Supporting and enabling nurses to become clinical nurse specialists to improve their knowledge of leukaemia and the particular care and support those diagnosed with it need.  

I know that if my Dad and our family had had access to some of the information and support offered by Leukaemia Care then it would have helped us enormously.  

Finally, a word about me.  For those of you that know me well, I AM NOT A RUNNER, still less a distance runner.  This challenge is exactly that - a challenge - and I am going to have to work incredibly hard to pull it off.  It is a cliche, but true, that every £ we raise along the way will make every second of training that little bit easier.  So please, dig deep and help me along the way.  Just a few weeks into training, I've already developed plantar fasciitis and an Achilles tendinopathy - so I'm definitely feeling the pain already... 

It's also worth saying that I will be running the Marathon with my wife, Jemimah.  She supported me and our whole family hugely throughout Dad's disease, and this was very much her idea.  Us both entering into marathon training at the same time with a 2 year-old to look after is not the easiest thing practically - even more early starts for us throughout the winter months so we can fit in enough training runs - so once again I thank you in advance for being as generous as you can be.  

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.