That handsome bastard in the photo is my brother-in-law; he's also called Alex and he's proper sound.

In 2021 Alex, a fit and firing volunteer lifeguard living the dream in Australia with my now sister-in-law Anna, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma. You may have heard about it in the news; it was what tragically claimed Tom Parker from The Wanted and politician Tessa Jowell, whose name is put to the foundation set up in her memory that I am raising money for.

It's shit - proper shit - but he's smashing it. As in every single barrier put in front of him has been evaporated. In January Alex married Anna on the most beautiful day in between early morning dips in the sea, triathlons and a load of other mad bits and bobs.

Sadly, the glioblastoma is not something that will leave him altogether - there's no known cure as of yet and the average age expectancy for someone with gliobastoma is 14 months - but he's smashed past that and will continue to do so. There are really horrible times, there's been major surgery, tons of chemo and the two of them have been to hell and back but genuinely, you'd never know what he was battling. He's a class act. And yes, he's a proper handsome bastard.

Alongside his attitude and determination, he's thriving in no small part due to the expertise of Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London, which is a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence. Any cash you're able to spare will fund research and coordinate the activity of such centres.

I'll be running the Leeds Half-Marathon on May 14 to raise these shekels having been an overweight, cigarette-smoking couch potato for the last decade or more - quite the opposite of Alex. When I started my training, a two-minute run gave me a stitch! But I'm confident I can drag my fat ass around 22km and get the job done.

So dig deep for a proper handsome bastard. And Alex.

More info on Alex's journey here: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-wakes-up-smelling-burnt-27517168

More info on the TJF here: https://www.tessajowellfoundation.org.uk/