Health

Meet the marathon runners going the extra 26.2 miles after health struggles


Meet the London Marathon runners who beat the odds to reach the start line on Sunday.

This incredible trio already deserve medals and their courage and determination should help power them through 26.2 miles.

Ben Atkins, 21, made a miracle recovery after a terminal cancer diagnosis four years ago.

Del Singh, 56, was told he would die without a gastric band and went on to lose eight stone.

And Issy McNeile, 26, will take on the course despite having the lung condition cystic fibrosis.

As well as achieving what some said was impossible, they hope to raise thousands for ­charities close to their hearts.

Their inspiring stories are enough to make you reach for your trainers…

Miracle at the start line after having only weeks to live

Ben was told he would not see his 18th birthday

Not long ago, 21-year-old Ben Atkins was picking his gravestone.

But today, he will take on the 26.2 miles, free from the cancer he thought was terminal.

Aged 17, doctors gave him weeks to live following a two-year battle with Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma.

Ben began palliative care and even went on a final family holiday.

But a miracle happened six months later, when he began to feel “strangely OK”.

And a scan revealed he was indeed in remission.

Ben, from Berkhamsted, Herts, took up long-distance running a year ago to stay fit after his all-clear.

But he said: “It will be a huge challenge as years of chemo gave my body a battering.”

And he is raising money for the charity that supported him through his illness – the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Recalling the moment he learned his cancer was terminal, he said: “To be told I was going to die wasn’t a shock after years of treatment but it made me determined to spend every moment with friends and family.

“It was a very emotional time – I even chose where I’d be buried. Like everyone I remained hopeful I would somehow defy the odds. To be that person feels incredible.”

Consultants were baffled by the turnaround but think perhaps a stem cell transplant Ben had two years prior started working later than it should have.

But after cancer blighted his teenage years Ben went into remission

 

“To this day, nobody is exactly sure how I am still alive. But I don’t dwell on it.”

Ben’s cancer symptoms began to show aged 14. Exhausted, he lost weight and had to quit running, rugby, football and swimming.

Scans revealed two tumours in his chest.

Treated at the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University College Hospital London, he had “dozens” of rounds chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He was given the all-clear in 2013 and 2014 but relapsed.

“Every physical act was a battle,” he recalled. “The most menial tasks, from getting out of bed, to keeping relationships with friends and loved ones, became almost insurmountable tasks.”

In 2014, Ben had a stem cell transplant, donated by his “needle-phobic” brother Joseph, now 23.

But a scan in December 2015 revealed the tumour had grown to “the size of a tennis ball” and Ben and mum Anya, 51, were told it was incurable.

“It hit hard,” Ben said.

A “last” holiday to the Maldives with Anya, Joseph and his sister Grace, 19, allowed them to spend quality time together.

But as weeks turned into months, Ben realised he felt “the same”.

“And after five months, I actually felt all right.”

Everyone was “over the moon” when a scan in 2016 revealed he was in remission. “At first I didn’t want to trust the results but then I started to enjoy myself again.”

Ben went on to pass his A-levels and win a place at Oxford University to study law.

Ben’s first few runs left him exhausted due to muscle fatigue after years of treatment and bed rest.

He also has graft versus host disease – a complication from his transplant that means his muscles and skin are tight and cause discomfort.

But he says: “The thought of the people who will benefit from the cash I raise will keep me going.”

  • Donate at uk.virginmoneygiving.com and search for Ben Atkins

Cystic fibrosis won’t define me

Issy is running to prove a point about cystic fibrosis

A lifelong battle with lung condition cystic fibrosis has given Issy McNeile an especially good reason to finish the run.

Because her sister also has CF, and spent 10 days in intensive care in September – and law student Issy, 26, has vowed to show her the disease “will not define” them.

The genetic condition causes abscesses on Issy’s lungs, and frequent chest infections.

She said: “At my worst I struggle to walk, talk and breathe. I want to prove to us both that CF will not stop us achieving our goals.”

Older sister Alice, 27, has the gene, but not the disease. CF affects more than 10,500 people in the UK.

It causes the body to produce thick mucus, affecting people differently.

Issy, of London, said: “For me it’s my lungs, I spent my life in and out of hospital. Lucy’s is more digestion.”

Lucy, 24, was hospitalised with internal bleeding.

Issy said: “It was tough, I couldn’t visit. I want to be a role model.”

Despite a recent complication and being on antibiotics, Issy is determined to run.

She said: “It’ll be an emotional day.”

Op helped me run off eight stone

Del Singh in 2013 before the surgery which began his transformation

Morbidly obese dad Del Singh was told he’d die in his mid-60s if he did not lose weight.

But he has his eyes on the finishing line after he paid for a gastric op – instead of a new kitchen.

Del, 56, weighed 23 stone when he used his £10,000 savings for a private op after the grim prognosis.

He said: “I realised I didn’t need a new kitchen as much as my wife needed me alive.”

Eating soup and tiny portions of scrambled egg, the dad of five lost eight stone in three years, falling to 15.5 stone.

The former IT consultant’s sedentary lifestyle plus his love of curries, pop and fry-ups, saw him pile on the weight.

Grandad-of-five Del said: “I had problems with blood pressure , ­cholesterol and back pain. Walking even a short distance got me out of breath.”

But he was still “not heavy enough” for NHS surgery.

In 2015, Del from ­Peterborough, paid to have 15 per cent of his stomach removed.

He started walking and would do 10km every evening.

Del is now eight stone lighter than he was

Walking became running and he aims to do three races in three months for Cancer Research.

Today’s race is the final push.

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