The father of Ryan Ferguson, who had a lifesaving bone marrow transplant, is preparing to run the London Marathon to raise money for the charity who found a donor for his son.

Stuart Ferguson has been heavily involved with the Anthony Nolan Register, to the extent that they held the most successful donor clinic ever held in Scotland, when 1074 people jioned the stem cell register in one day.

Mr Ferguson, a joiner from East Kilbride hopes to raise £2102 for Anthony Nolan. He explained his reasons for running the marathon as being "to support my wee man and give others like him the chance of life." He will be accompanied by his brother-in-law Stephen Cavanagh and friend Lorraine Downie, who also hope to raise £2102.

Ryan received his transplant on 13th January and is recovering at Yorkhill. Ryan is now fronting a campaign for Anthony Nolan called Sofa for Change.

Mr Ferguson said "I haven't actually run for 20 years. I used to run for Hamilton Harriers back in the day, and now I've decided to do this.

"I've started my training, though I'm finding it quite difficult at the moment, what with going back and forward to Yorkhill and seeing Ryan, who's quite poorly just now. It's been hard, but we'll get there.

"At the end of the day all I have to do is think about Ryan, and that makes me more determined to run the marathon. I tell myself, if he can get through everything he's gone through so far, including the chemotherapy and the operation, then surely I can run a 26-mile marathon."

Mr Ferguson is looking for company sponsorship. His Just Giving page can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/Stuarts2012Marathon. To date Stuart has raised £1,008.20.