AFTER his son was diagnosed with a rare condition which affects just one in 15,000 people, Steven Edney made it his mission to raise more awareness of the disease.

Mr Edney’s son Max, five, was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), better known as brittle bone disease.

Max has broken 14 bones since the age of one because of the condition.

Now Max’s family is trying to raise awareness of his disease and funds for the charity which has supported them through their darkest days.

As Mr Edney is set to turn 50 this June, in a bid to support the Brittle Bone Society, the Old Basing resident wanted to do 12 events in 12 months supporting the charity.

He said: “Instead of a 50th birthday I thought to myself I wanted to do something that not only kept me in shape but helped make people aware of this condition.

“It was almost poetic that the same year I turn 50 as does the Brittle Bone Society.

“The idea was to just do the Three Peaks Challenge, but things just snowballed from there into a bigger challenge.”

The next big challenge Mr Edney will embark on with 29 other volunteers is a 24- hour stationary run, covering the distance of Basingstoke to Manchester.

The run will start at 3pm on Friday, 9 March and take place the Asda store in Brighton Hill with the group running on a treadmill for 24 hours, non-stop.

Mr Edney added: “I am going to be running the first and last 5k and we are hoping to get Max to get on the treadmill for a bit.”

Mr Edney’s 12 events in 12 months will culminate with the Three Peaks Challenge in June when he turns 50.

He hopes that the whole challenge will raise more than £20,000 for the Brittle Bone Society. To donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-edney and for more information visit brittlebone.org.