Terminal cancer sufferer from Shrewsbury to run London Marathon

Paul Morris from Shrewsbury was diagnosed with oesophageal and liver cancer in November – just weeks after his place had been confirmed in the famous race.

But he is determined to still take part in the event in April.

With the help and support of his wife Laura, the 36-year-old is training between chemotherapy sessions and aims to complete the 26.2-mile course in about eight hours.

"I want to leave a legacy my family can be proud of so I decided I wasn't going to let cancer stop me from running the marathon," he said.

"I'm raising money for Severn Hospice because they will be looking after me, hopefully many years down the line."

Paul, who is a father to five-year-old twins Melody and Alexis, two-year-old Arthur and a seven-month-old Adelaide, will be running alongside his friends Simon MacDonald, Peter Horton, Dave Clegg, Matty Griffiths and Steph Tough, who are running for a number of different causes.

Proud

He said: "I actually only started training properly two days ago because I got an infection over Christmas, and I'm paying for it now but we should be able to do it in eight hours by doing a fast walk and still get the medal. I did a 5k before Christmas which raised some eyebrows when I told them in oncology what I'd been doing.

"It's strange because at the moment I still feel well and don't feel much different in myself so it's frustrating not to be able to go out and run properly. But I'm determined to do it to make all my family proud. Everyone has been so supportive and I'm so grateful to my wife, family and friends."

The fundraising appeal rocketed to more than £1,000 after Match of The Day host Gary Lineker retweeted his story on Twitter.

Paul, who is a street works inspector, added: "Gary Lineker actually donated money too which was very generous. After he tweeted about what I'm doing it went from £200 to way over £1,000. Then some Sheffield Wednesday players started tweeting about it which is amazing. I'm just hoping to connect with local people now. I'm Shrewsbury born and bred and have been here for 36 years so hoping local people will get behind it.

"We're also looking for local businesses to sponsor us and we will put their logos on out t-shirts and things like that. Any help would be great."

Severn Hospice provides specialist care and support free of charge to families across Shropshire and North Powys who are living with an incurable illness, and rely heavily on donations from the public.

Inspirational

Lucy Ruff, fundraising manager at Severn Hospice, said: "Paul is a truly inspirational person. It is difficult enough to find the time and the energy to train for a marathon when you have four small young children let alone when you’re having to deal with what Paul is going through.

"The fact that he is thinking of others when he already has so much to contend with himself speaks in volumes about the kind of person he is.

"He is testament to what you can achieve when you put your mind to it and it is a real honour to be one of the beneficiaries of Team Moz’s fundraising efforts. We will be with him every step of the way as he takes on his marathon challenge."

Anyone who wants to sponsor Paul's team and have their company logo on the official shirts can get in contact via the London Marathon 2018 #TeamMoz Facebook page. The team is also posting regular video updates on the Facebook page to track their progress.

To donate visit virginmoneygiving.com/Team/teammoz