'A year after being told I had weeks to live, I'm doing a 10k run'

A year ago, Adam Claxton was told that he had suffered a relapse of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and only had weeks to live.

Now he is training to take on the Worcester City 10k in September, which takes place on the anniversary of him leaving hospital after treatment.

"It's really a comeback, being courageous, being a bit stupid, and doing it for a good cause," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester.

Claxton had originally been diagnosed with the illness in September 2024. He underwent treatment and was in remission by April 2025.

But while hoping to compete in a cycle challenge in France for Cure Leukaemia, and the month he was due to leave, a routine check-up revealed his white blood cells had rocketed. The bleak forecast he had just two weeks to live quickly followed.

However, he defied the odds and is now preparing for the Worcester 10k - a stark contrast compared to how he was faring a year ago.

"Last year when I came out of hospital I could just about walk up my stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out," he said.

"I was anaemic, I still had pneumonia."

Claxton will take part in the event with his wife Jo and his children, as well as members of the Worcestershire Royal Hospital Haematology team.

"I just want to have all my family crossing the finish line, because it's not just me that did that journey, it's all of us that did it," he said.

"Crossing the line, putting an end to it and moving on into the rest of our lives.

"With a cancer journey it takes more than a village and I'm going to take more than a city to this one."

Claxton and the other runners with him will be raising money for Cure Leukaemia, which funds the role of research nurse Christine Bossa at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"If it wasn't for the work Cure Leukaemia do, I simply wouldn't be here today," he said.

"I wake up every morning see my family, see my boy, it's because of the clinical trials they are years ahead of others in the world and giving us hope, belief we can get through this, we can eradicate blood cancer.

"I don't live with blood cancer, blood cancer has had an experience with Adam."

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