A Wymondham teacher is running the London Marathon to raise money for a charity which helped to save his life.

Andrew McFadyen is running the 26.2-mile course on April 21 for blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, who found a lifesaving bone marrow match for him.

In 2009, the father of three was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disorder called aplastic anemia.

His condition was cured when Anthony Nolan organised a bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor in Canada.

Mr McFadyen, 37, who lives in Swardeston, said: 'If it wasn't for the work of Anthony Nolan who found me a bone marrow donor I would not have had the chance to live. I would not have had the chance to be a father to my three young children or to become a teacher.'

Mr McFadyen, an art teacher at Wymondham High Academy, aims to raise £2,000 for the charity and hopes to complete the marathon in less than four hours.

But his challenge doesn't stop at running 26 miles – he is determined to recruit more people to the bone marrow register and give more people the opportunity to have a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.

He added: 'Joining Anthony Nolan's bone marrow register is simple. Healthy people aged between 16 and 30 years old are asked to provide a spit sample to be added to the database.

'When someone needs a bone marrow transplant, the charity can search the database and find the perfect match – just like they did for me.

'Giving a bone marrow donation is also simple and is a similar experience to giving blood.'

Rebecca Highfield, events co-ordinator at Anthony Nolan, said: 'After all of the challenges he has overcome, it's incredible that Andrew is giving back to the charity and running the Virgin London Marathon.

'It costs £100 to recruit each person on to the bone marrow register, so the more money Andrew raises, the more people we can add to the register, and the more lives we can save.'

You can find out more, and join the register online at www.anthonynolan.org

To donate, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/AndrewMcFadyen