A RUISLIP man is running this weekend’s London Marathon for the eighth  time, despite having lived with cancer for the last 14 years. He has also raised £40,000 in the process.

Charles Brooks, 47, is collecting for blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan. It finds and matches donors with patients who need life-saving stem cell transplants.

Charles may need a stem cell transplant in the future and says Anthony Nolan is the insurance policy he hopes he never has to use.  

He was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2005.  For several months, he had been losing weight, having night sweats and getting out of breath, which he initially put down to having a stressful job. 

Chronic myeloid leukaemia affects the white blood cells and tends to progress slowly over many years.

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The medication Charles was given resulted in his weight shooting up, so he started running as a way of trying to control his weight.

There is still no cure for Charles’ leukaemia, despite him being drug-free, but he remains positive about the future.

He said: “I’m trying to prove a point that, despite having cancer, I can still run.

“I hated running at school, but here I am running another marathon. My weight has calmed down a bit now, but I still want to stay fit.”

Since Charles started fund-raising for Anthony Nolan, he has collected £40,000, which will help fund the recruitment of new donors, as well as pioneering research to increase the success of stem cell transplants.