A Ruislip man who has incurable cancer ran the London Marathon for the eighth time last month and has raised £40,000 for Anthony Nolan in the process.
Charles Brooks, 47, has lived with cancer for 14 years and wants to prove to everyone that despite his illness, he can still run.
Charles said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I want to run for as long as I can, I’m trying to prove a point that despite this, despite having cancer, I can still run.”
The marathon runner, who may need a stem cell transplant in the future, says Anthony Nolan is the “insurance police he hopes he never has to use.”
Charles got into running after his weight dramatically shot up due to the medication he was taking.
However, four years ago, he took part in a clinical trial which meant that he could slowly come off medication and see what the outcome would be, which he responded positively to. He hasn’t had any treatment since May 2018.
Charles, who hated running when he was younger, described the London Marathon experience as “amazing”.
“I hated running at school, I hated cross county but here I am running another marathon. Now that I’m drug free my weight has calmed down a bit, but I still want to stay fit,” said Charles. “The whole London Marathon experience is amazing and the Anthony Nolan events team are second to none.”
There is still no cure for Charles’ diagnosis of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, which means he still needs to visit hospital regularly for tests but remains positive about the future.
Kirsty Mooney, head of events at Anthony Nolan, said: “We are delighted that Charles ran the London Marathon for us this year. The funds raised will enable us to recruit potential stem cell donors to the Anthony Nolan register – any one of whom could give a second chance of life for someone with blood cancer.”
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