A Fulwood man has started a blog about his journey towards running the London Marathon in memory of his late brother.

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Craig McDougall is running the marathon to raise money for St John Ambulance after his brother John died while living in Australia.

Craig said: “John was living in Perth when he was in a motorbike accident. He crashed and was found by a passer-by who performed CPR for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived. John sadly died a week later, on 19 November 2016, aged 30.

“Without this hero being able to give first aid, John would have died at the scene. The fact he didn’t meant some family and I could get to Australia. Spending those last precious days by John’s bedside will forever remain a source of comfort to us, and many of his friends who were also able to say goodbye.

“It brought home how important it is to know basic first aid, and St John Ambulance are the leading charity in that area. They also help with repatriations, which is something we may have needed had John survived his accident. We did manage to fly John’s body home to Preston for his funeral because of an amazing show of support from family and friends. Other families may not be as lucky.

“For these reasons I’m delighted to be one of St John Ambulance’s nominated charity runners for the 2019 London Marathon, and I’m incredibly proud to be able to run in John’s memory. I’ve set a fundraising target of £2,000, which would help this incredible charity immensely.”

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As well as using his blog – Craig’s London Marathon Journey – to encourage donations, Craig will be writing about his progress and reasons for running.

Craig continued: “After becoming a Dad, working full time, studying in the evenings and dealing with the grief of John’s death, I’d put on a lot of weight and was feeling as low as I ever had. I decided to get healthy and took up running again in the summer of 2017.

“I now run three or four times a week, and am just about comfortable up to half-marathon distance. I want to start pushing up to marathon distance, but it’s very daunting to think I will have to run that whole distance again immediately. To make it an even bigger challenge, I’ll be attempting to run it in under four hours.

“Through the blog I also hope to give people an insight into what it was like to live the moments after John’s accident, and still be living with the aftermath. If I share certain things I hope it will help people better understand the situation, and even help me get out some of what I’ve bottled up.

“I’ll be putting in hours and hours of running every week. I often can’t get out running until after 10pm due to family life so any donations will encourage me to keep going when otherwise I may not have had the willpower or strength.”

Craig has so far raised over £700 for St John Ambulance. To donate, visit his JustGiving page.