A DETERMINED dad who has terminal cancer has managed to raise a staggering amount for charity – and he’s just completed his latest marathon, raising even more too.
Dad-of-three, Chris Johnson had been diagnosed with rare cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) in December 2019 after suffering symptoms including fatigue.
Read more: Meet the dad-of-three tackling the Great North Run after being diagnosed with terminal illness
The 42-year-old surveyor, of High Barnes in Sunderland, underwent a series of tests - including surgery at Sunderland Royal Hospital - but was later told it had spread.
Husband to Lucy, and dad to Luke, nine, Molly, seven, and Nancy, five, Mr Johnson was then delivered the news at the start of 2020 that his cancer had become incurable.
Since then, he has vowed to raise as much money as possible for the cancer charity, Children With Cancer UK after seeing first-hand the heartbreaking impact.
He has since been in the process of completing a number of challenges, including Scafell Pike in the Lakes and more recently the Great North Run, raising thousands.
Now, after completing the 26-mile London Marathon at the weekend, he has so far managed to raise more than £22,000 for the charity.
He told The Northern Echo: “It’s just amazing, right from the very start people have been so supportive.
“I am constantly impressed with how good people have been – most of them are from the North East, but people who don’t even know me have been donating.”
Mr Johnson had vowed to tackle the London Marathon as part of his goal to raise as much as he could for the children's charity, preparing and training months in advance.
Last month, he tackled the 13.1-mile Great North Run, by which he had already raised more than £14,000, beating his original target amount by a staggering 118 percent.
But describing his emotion after embarking on the London Marathon, Mr Johnson said: “It was brilliant yesterday – I ran as fast and I could, I then walked the rest of the way.
“I just loved every minute of it. I didn’t run the last six miles, it just gave me the chance to soak up the atmosphere.
“My wife, Lucy came down and watched me and we're heading back now. I am looking forward to getting back and seeing the kids.”
As of 2pm on Monday, a total of £22,164.88 had been raised on his Virgin Money fundraiser since it was set up earlier this year.
Mr Johnson previously told The Echo how his own cancer diagnosis had led him to begin his fundraising campaign.
He said: “At the beginning of the year, I started to run and quickly decided I wanted to put this to good use – and wanted to raise money for a cancer charity.
"It broke my heart at the thought of children not getting the chance to grow up."
Mr Johnson has been continuing to use social media to update those following his progress.
To donate to Chris's fundraiser on Virgin Money - click here
To see and follow Mr Johnson's progress on Twitter - click here
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