A dad who lost a leg after a training run went wrong is preparing for the ultimate running challenge.

Matt Bromley is among thousands taking part in the weekend’s Virgin Money London Marathon.

The 47 year-old from Queensway, Sheerness, will take part in his NHS wheelchair.

He successfully completed last year’s 10-mile Paul Trigwell run from Leysdown to Sheerness.

He said: “Running the London Marathon had been on my bucket list even before I lost my leg.

“I hope this shows others whatever age you are, and whatever disability you may have, you must continue to challenge yourself.”

The former firefighter and rugby player lost his right leg in 2003 after it became infected following a fall outside his home as he set out on a training run.

He’s hoping to raise £2,000 for Kidney Research UK, as he contracted different kidney diseases after the infection, plus sepsis. One day he will face kidney failure and needing dialysis. Mr Bromley, has also begun a new career in mental health and lost 10 stone.

Jay Holmes, 30, who has beaten testicular cancer twice is gearing up for his second marathon in two weeks.

The Leysdown resident was just 19 when diagnosed and 22 when he was told the cancer had returned. After further treatment, he was told the tumour had shrunk and it was deemed benign. He came out of remission two years ago.

He is fundraising for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign and ran the Brighton Marathon on Sunday, April 9, in five hours and four minutes.

Gurpreet ‘Gurps’ Rai, manager of the Delmergate Pharmacy in St George’s Avenue, Sheerness is running for the NSPCC and hopes to raise £2,200.

Father of four Geoff King, plans his fourth London Marathon in memory of his cousin.

The 57-year-old, from Iwade, is running for Children with Cancer UK and completed marathons in the 1990s and one in 2012.

His cousin, Joanne King, died of Leukaemia aged 19. He said: “We were really close and she was really young. Even though it was more than 30 years ago now, it’s always in my mind.

He is hoping to raise more than £1,000 and has raised thousands for the charity over the years. Mr King, who works for drug and alcohol charity Change, Grow, Live, has been training since Christmas.

Other runners will include student Gemma Kennedy, 21, from Dane Close in Hartlip, runs for British Heart Foundation in memory of her mum Lorna, who died suddenly in 2015.

Sittingbourne best friends Gina Woodfine, 47, from Adelaide Drive, and Marriane Seaward, 45, from Capel Road, go the distance for Demelza House Hospice Care for Children in Bobbing.

Minster Cricket Club captain Mike Rees will be running his eighth Virgin Money London Marathon for Prostate Cancer UK.