Hi All

I have decided to run the London Marathon this year, not in the normal way but to make it a bit harder, I'm going to run/walk/crawl the 26 miles in Ski Boots!!

I'll be doing this to raise funds for two great charities which are doing great work in the fight against illnesses that have affected me in the past. The first is The Kidney Patient Association and the second is The Brain Tumour Charity.

As many of you know, I had a brain tumour removed in 2001 and, without the research of charities like the Brain Tumour Charity, my prognosis would have certainly not been as good.

A month after having the tumour removed , I received a call from my consultant to give me the bad news that the tumour was a particularly aggressive cancer which required further treatment. 3 years of chemotherapy and radiotherapy later and my cancer was in remission.

However, 2 years later, I had routine blood test which showed a high level of creatinine (a muscle mass by-product that is metabolised by the Kidney). This was the first indication that both my kidneys were failing and it was due to an unusual adverse toxic reaction to one of my chemo drugs. Over the course of the next 6 years, my kidneys became weaker and weaker. Eventually I was told I required a transplant within 6 months or I would need to go on dialysis.

Fortunately, my sister Helen was a perfect match and she bravely volunteered to donate! The operation went ahead on April 15th 2012 and was a massive success!

Charities like the Kidney Patient Association not only assist with the research of Kidney and renal diseases themselves, but also with pioneering methods of treatment, including using different techniques during procedures (including transplants) but also managing conditions that require long term care (e.g. dialysis) and helps keep the patients as comfortable as possible. 

I'm proud to be representing these charities and hope you can dig deep to help support them!

Thanks

Al