A FORMER soldier who had an eight-year battle with Leukaemia is holding a charity football match to help other battling the disease.

Dan Chapman, 37, was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) in August 2015 while serving in the Royal Signals Corps.

Dan, from Colchester, was told he would need to take a type of oral chemotherapy called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor twice a day every day for the rest of his life.

However, Dan responded well to the medication and was able to wean off the medication, before finally in November 2023 being told he could stop taking medication.

Charity - Dan Chapman in 2023 at the Houses of Parliament for an event ran by the charity Leukaemia CareCharity - Dan Chapman in 2023 at the Houses of Parliament for an event ran by the charity Leukaemia Care (Image: Submitted)

Dan continues to be monitored with regular appointments and blood tests, and will be running the London Marathon in 2025 for the third time.

Ahead of his marathon feat he is hosting a charity football match in Boxted on Saturday in aid of Leukaemia Care. 

He said: “The charity Leukaemia Care, when I was diagnosed back in 2015, gave me the information I needed, offered me a phone service if I had any questions.

“It simplified my diagnosis as there was a lot of medical terms, they helped me through the pandemic, helped with the rise of energy costs and supplied me with a grant to pay my bills.

“So, any opportunity I get, I will help them.”  

Support - The 2022 fundraising match in Wormingford Support - The 2022 fundraising match in Wormingford (Image: Ant Allston Photography)

Having played football his whole life, Dan set up a fundraising match in Wormingford alongside Steven Smith raising over £350 in 2022.  

Steven said for this year, he manged to contact more than 200 hundred players, getting a turnout of about 50 players for the day, and thanked Boxted Lodgers FC for their facilities.

Steven and Dan will be sorting out the positions of the players, which includes a “few veterans”, on Friday night before the game and also said there will be another prize for the end-game of penalty game shoot out.

Steven said: “Hopefully we are going to get hundreds of people, make it a bit bigger this time, and we are encouraging families to come.

“Boxted is a vibrant little village, with the community hub at its heart, and the event was the brainchild of ‘Chappers’.”