A dad from Chorley is taking part in supporting his son run eight marathons in eight days to raise money for a national trust that is close to the family’s hearts.

Nigel Jones, who works as a group director of people at Together Housing, will take part in fundraising efforts called ‘8 4 K8’ in honour of his daughter.

His daughter Kate Ramsay was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia while studying at St Peter’s College in Oxford University.

Kate’s brother, Sam Ramsay said: “This time last year, we all sat in Kate’s hospital room.

"She was desperately ill- frightened, frail and fatigued. Yet we still all hoped that things could get better in time, with the benefit of a transplant which could start to make her better.

“Kate is now at home. But plenty of people still sit in those hospital rooms, totally beaten down by a horrible illness, with the only real comfort provided by the transplant Anthony Nolan might be able to organise.”

(Image: Together Housing)

Following her diagnosis in October 2022 and after many rounds of chemotherapy, Kate was a recipient of a stem cell transplant in April 2023 with support from the Anthony Nolan Trust.

The Anthony Nolan Trust provides the register which matches donors with patients who require stem cell transplants and without their help many people with similar conditions would die.

Now, the family are doing their very best to give back and raise awareness of the trust this week with the marathon.

Sam has been leading the marathon and covering the majority of the 217 miles from University College London Hospital to Chorley.

He kicked off the first couple of marathons on Saturday June 8, and will be finishing today (Saturday, June 15), Kate’s birthday.

Supporting his son, Nigel is running the first 10k each day and the last 10k of the day.

He will also be driving the support vehicle and manning the rest stops with the food and drink Sam will require to fuel himself each day.

Nigel said: “My family and I will always be indebted to both the Antony Nolan Trust and the haematology transplant team at University College London Hospital for giving our daughter Kate the lifesaving treatment to overcome her acute myeloid leukaemia.

“Sam decided he wanted to do something to raise money for Anthony Nolan and decided he wanted to go big, and he has.

"We’ll be supporting him the whole way through his eight marathons in eight days taking him from University College London Hospital in London, all the way to our hometown of Chorley.

"It’s been a real challenge just to work out the logistics, but it will all be worth it because Anthony Nolan needs not only the money to keep on doing their life saving work, but also to raise awareness on the need for donors.”