Darren Jewell was just 24 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Now, 16 years on, he is running the equivalent of a marathon a month to raise money for Longfield, the charity which helped him get his life back on track.

Darren, who lives in Rodborough and is a member of the Stroud and District Athletics Club, decided he would mark his 40th birthday with a marathon a month.

He has already completed marathons in Milton Keynes, Gloucester and Stroud. In March he was fourth in his age group at the Israman Ironman in Eilat in Israel, considered one of the world’s hardest Ironman competitions.

It combined a 2.4-mile swim race in the Red Sea, a 112-mile bike race in the hot rolling hills of the Negev Desert finishing with a 26.2-mile marathon run.  

He is running two marathons - in London and in Brighton.

In 2001, just before his 24th birthday Darren found a lump on his testicle which proved to be cancer. He underwent surgery and then chemotherapy.

He said he was struggling to come to terms with the cancer and how to get on with his life when someone recommended he go for counselling at Longfield in Minchinhampton.

“People act differently around you once you have had cancer. They don’t mean to but people put their guard up and I really struggled with things,” said Darren, who works as a fire alarm engineer for Eesi in Stonehouse.

“I hit rock bottom, moved home and just couldn’t cope. I stopped taking part in sports because I was physically so exhausted.

“It was good to go to Longfield because you could talk openly to someone who wouldn’t judge you and helped you come to terms with everything.”

Darren decided he would raise money and awareness for Longfield after attending a funeral of one of his friends’ mothers who had also had Longfield support.

“I sat there at that funeral and thought about my cancer and realised that I was one of the lucky ones. Cancer has made me the man I am and made my life better,” he said.

Darren is one of the first people to sign up for Longfield’s #30for30 campaign to mark the hospice’s 30th.

Donate to Darren’s appeal at justgiving.com/fundraising/darren-jewell2