Written in 2013

With days until the 2013 BUPA Great Birmingham Run ‘Team Cure Leukaemia’ had a staggering 454 runners ready to take on the 13.1 miles to raise money for the charity. Four weeks previously 41-year-old leukaemia patient Karl Murphy from Sutton Coldfield had a bone marrow transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital under the supervision of our co-founder Professor Charlie Craddock. On Thursday morning before the race we received a last-minute entry request, it was from Karl.

Despite Professor Craddock’s advice against competing in the event, Karl was adamant he would be part of the day and had his blood levels topped up at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital that Thursday afternoon in preparation. We went to meet him during the procedure:

With his entry validated, Karl became our 455th runner and completed the BUPA Great Birmingham Run against all the odds with his girlfriend Rachel in a time of three hours thirty-nine minutes. The Team Cure Leukaemia Headquarters at the Brasshouse on Broad Street was prepared to give Karl a welcome befitting his achievement but sadly he was not able to stop by but hopefully, he knows how inspiring his story has been.

Adversity generally brings the very best out of human beings and that has certainly been the case with Karl, a staggering accomplishment and hopefully an inspiration to many future fundraisers.