AN inspiring runner’s participation in a challenging road race now has an added significance after he was given a devastating cancer diagnosis.

Tom Williams, 23, initially booked his place in next month’s Brighton Marathon to set himself a personal challenge and to improve his fitness.

The office worker would frequent the gym and often take his dog for walks but had never previously tackled any form of long-distance running.

He said: “I was putting on a bit of timber and needed to lose some weight.

“I was a typical young person and was just drinking and partying every week.

“Everything was going smoothly, and I was getting fitter – I really felt like I was making progress and I even completed a half marathon in November.”

But both his personal future and his ability to take part in the Brighton Marathon were plunged into doubt after he found an unusual lump on his testicle last November.

He immediately visited his doctor, who then sent him for an operation to test him for cancer.

After two weeks, the results confirmed Mr Williams, who lives in Clacton, had stage two testicular cancer and the disease had spread to the lymph node.

Mr Williams said: “They couldn’t confirm if I had cancer unless they removed one of my testicles.

“I could have had a prosthetic testicle, but I just thought it is what it is and thought I would go with it.

“I was already bed ridden with scarring from the operation and I went with my mum to find out.

“It was a tough moment and a bit of shocker.

“It was one of most difficult times and I had to put a brave face on it.

“You just try your best to stay positive but there has been some down days.”

Gazette:

Mr Williams is now six weeks into nine weeks of chemotherapy treatment, but has, remarkably, decided to still run in the Brighton Marathon, which takes place in April.

In between treatment sessions, he is continuing to run four miles every day to prepare for the gruelling race, despite the treatment severely taking its toll.

Doctors have advised Mr Williams to take it easy and to consider the impact exercising will have on his body, but he is determined to inspire others with his resilience and positive attitude in the face of his condition.

“I am quite an active person, so it is difficult for me to be just laying around,” he said.

“I have decided to use this energy and put it into something positive.

“The treatment is quite intense and as each week goes by, I find myself running slower and slower but afterwards I feel really good.

“Having something to focus on is definitely helping me mentally and is giving me a drive every day.

“I have found from speaking with a lot of people that have had lumps, including family friends, that they aren’t as open when it comes to speaking about it.

“So, I am hoping I will inspire other people to seek help immediately if they find a lump because some people don’t and at the end of the day, it can kill you.”

In light of his fight against the disease, Mr Williams has now decided to use his participation in the race to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Having initially set out to raise £500 for the charity, Mr Williams is now hoping to garner even more donations, after his target was exceeded within just 24 hours.

“It is really overwhelming to honest because I really didn’t expect to get this many donations so quickly,” he said.

“It just shows how powerful social media can be.

“We are already over £700 and now I want to push it as much as I can and raise even more money.

“Hopefully the publicity will also help give people the confidence to seek medical advice and get checked out if they need to.”

To donate to Tom Williams’ fundraising drive head to fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/thomass-giving-page-353.