​A RUNNER from Baughurst is taking part in the London Marathon to raise both money and awareness after her dad was sadly diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015. ​

Ellie Spark will be running in support of the charity Leukaemia UK, alongside 62 other runners who will all be wearing the charitiy's orange shirt and have already raised £73,000. 

Ellie's dad, Oliver, 50, was extremely active when he noticed bruising on his body - one of the four key symptoms of leukaemia. He was then referred by his GP for further tests and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphblastic Leukaemia (ALL). 

The 22-year-old university student explained that it was a very hard adjustment for both her and her four siblings, the youngest being eight-years-old at the time, when her dad came home one day on Christmas Eve and couldn't walk up the stairs.  

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She said: "My dad got a call one night and the next day he was in hospital for six months. The doctors and nurses were amazing, but it was all a bit of a strange experience at the time. For a year afterwards it was very hard on our family. We couldn’t hug him and if we had a cold we had to stay with a friend.” 

After his treatment was successful, Oliver left his job as managing director of a sofa and bed company and started his own business. He also volunteered as treasurer of Leukaemia UK for four years and worked for other charities to publicise the importance of becoming a bone marrow donor.  

Since Ellie's dad had his bone marrow transport, Ellie has run in a few different events to encourage people onto the bone marrow database. 

Ellie added: "We are forever indebted to my dad’s donor. Running the marathon is another way I can fund this valuable work and also hope to raise awareness. I am really looking forward to the atmosphere, it will be a lot more fun than the long training runs on my own. I hadn’t even really heard of blood cancers before my dad became ill. Now I want to do all I can to raise awareness about the work of Leukaemia UK and the importance of research.” 

The runners taking part in this year's London marathon in support of Leukaemia UK are aiming to raise over £80,000 to help raise awareness of a disease that sadly kills nearly 5000 men, women and children each year.  

Chief executive of Leukaemia UK Fiona Hazell said: “This is a record year for London Marathon entrants for team Leukaemia UK. We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of the 62 runners who are taking part in order to accelerate progress for those who receive a leukaemia diagnosis."