A DAD is preparing to take on his first marathon in aid of the charity which enabled him and his wife to stay at their baby daughter’s bedside when she underwent chemotherapy.

Marine engineer Nick Blackwell, 32, will be running the London Marathon this month in aid of the Sick Children’s Trust.

The charity provided him and his partner Clare with accommodation, so they could be close at hand when their daughter, Lilly, then aged one, was given chemotherapy.

Lilly was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, in 2013, after she was diagnosed with a rare condition called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which affects the immune system and damages tissue and organs in the body.

The Colchester couple were able to spend six weeks staying at the Sick Children’s Trust’s Acorn House building at the Addenbrooke’ while Lilly was in hospital.

Mr Blackwell said: “Lilly is doing really well now.

“She has been discharged from hospital, but will be under Addenbroke’s care until she is a teenager because of the amount of chemotherapy she’s received.

“I don’t know how I can ever repay the Sick Children’s Trust for the assistance and support they gave our family. I don’t know what we would have done without it.

“That’s why, over the past year, I have made it my business to raise as much money as possible for the charity, so they can continue to support other families like mine and help keep families together in the most difficult of times.”

Last year Nick and three relatives, took part in the Bupa London 10,000 Run, raising more than £8,000.

Sandra Peckham, Acorn House manager, said: “Nick is truly going above and beyond with his fundraising efforts.

“We are so proud of him.

When he told us Lilly was no longer undergoing treatment, it made our day.

We wish Nick the best of luck – we know he can do it.”

To sponsor Nick, visit justgiving.com/Nick-Blackwell