A FATHER-of-two from Mersea is finally set to run the London Marathon side-by-side with the stranger whose life he saved by donating his bone marrow.

When Elliott Brock was 29 he donated his cells to a then unknown eight-year-old girl, Vicky Lawrence, who was battling an aggressive kind of bone cancer.

The pair, who over the years have become friends, originally planned to run the Virgin Money London Marathon together last year for the blood cancer charity which brought them together, Anthony Nolan.

Coronavirus restrictions curtailed their efforts in both April and October 2020, however, with the event going ahead this autumn they are finally set to complete the 26.2 mile race side-by-side.

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Elliott, now 42, first connected with Vicky, now a 21-year-old medical student, five years after his life-saving donation with the pair continuing to meet up regularly ever since.

He said: "We have been staying in contact but we haven't seen each other in more than 18 months. It will be lovely to see her again.

"She is a bit like a little sister to me, although she probably thinks of me more as an uncle given my age.

"Our story shows what a massive difference bone marrow transplants can make. Without them, Vicky wouldn't be here.

"It is a lovely little side factor to the main reason we are doing it - to raise money and awareness for the Anthony Nolan."

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In October 2020, Elliott, who works as a physio in Braintree and Halstead, ran a virtual version of the world-famous fundraiser, taking on two whole laps of Mersea Island.

Doing the real thing this October, he hopes to make the full distance in less than four hours.

Elliott said: "The thing about me doing two laps of Mersea was there was absolutely no one around. It was just me, the foxes and the sheep.

"This year hopefully there will be thousands of people cheering us on.

"Vicky's training has not quite as well as she'd like.

"She was training for a charity boxing match and then that got cancelled.

"She is also juggling it around her medical studies and organising placements.

"We're hoping that me being 20 years older than her balances that out."

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Elliott hopes to raise about £5,000 for Anthony Nolan, which has struggled financially due to the impact of Covid on fundraising.

"The target is about £5,000 and I think with gift aid I am at about £3,500," he said.

"There's one final push now to get to £5,000.

"The charity has had an extremely difficult time because of Covid. The marathon is their main fundraising event.

"Hopefully us doing it can raise a bit of cash but more importantly raise awareness about people signing up to become donors."

Donate at bit.ly/31uqe2Q.

Visit anthonynolan.org to find out more or become a donor.