A man who lost his father to sepsis is taking on a half marathon in a bid to make more people aware of the 'silent killer'.

Michael Haddon died last year after contracting sepsis. The 64-year-old, who worked as a taxi driver, led a healthy lifestyle, exercised daily and was conscious of what he ate but one Monday last summer he suddenly fell ill and was rushed to hospital where he died two days later.

Now, his son Mike Haddon, 35, from Thorpe Marriott, is running a half marathon in a bid to raise funds for the UK Sepsis Trust and increase awareness of the illness, which kills more people each year in the UK than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined.

Mr Haddon said before his father's death he was unaware of how quickly sepsis could strike, and said: "It's the shock, there's no preparation for it.

"I'd heard of [sepsis] before, but I'd only heard of it in passing in the news here and there. I never personally looked into it but I know a lot about it now."

Recalling visiting his father in hospital, Mr Haddon, who is now in training for the Snetterton half marathon in November, said: "We were in the ICU unit at hospital, wondering why we were [there], and how our super fit dad, always conscious of exercise and diet, in a matter of hours was now lying on a hospital bed being stripped of his armour by sepsis.

"Dad would be so annoyed that he was taken from us in this way, at only 64 too, especially as he was not far away from meeting his daughter's first born, and seeing his five other grandchildren grow up."

Mr Haddon said since he had told people about his fundraising efforts, others had told him how sepsis had affected their lives.

He said: "There's no warning, no preparation, it's in the same class of tragedy as a car crash, there's no good way to go out of this world but it's just the shock of it."

Mr Haddon said he thought his father would be proud of what he was doing, and said if he could achieve one thing from doing the run it would be make more people aware of the dangers of sepsis.

He said: "If I can get people to just hear about sepsis and share it and just to look it up, that would be absolutely fantastic."

Hoping to raise £500 for the UK Sepsis Trust, Mr Haddon has set up a Just Giving page, to donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/upyourssepsis