An Airdrie man has spoken of how he nearly gave up his love for running after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Jamie Simpson's life was turned upside down in February 2021 when his partner, Lee-Ann, was told she had stage 4 metastatic melanoma, which is a form of skin cancer.
The now 40-year-old began to feel rundown at the end of 2020 and by December a bump had appeared on her neck.
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Jamie Simpson told Glasgow Live: "A big lump had appeared on her neck over Christmas and into January, it was the size of the tennis ball.
"At that time people were speaking about super Covid, so we'd always joke that it was super coronavirus.
"Five years before this she had a few moles removed because they were deemed to be cancerous. When she went to the doctors they asked if a mole was removed from the area on her neck and it was.
"We went to the hospital and she was told that she had cancer, which was devastating for her.
"Then she told me and it was just a shock. All of her appointments seemed to be in a Friday for the first few months and it seemed to get worse.
"It got to the point where we just couldn't take anymore bad news, we just hated Fridays.
"Every single time she went in the prognosis got worse."
Jamie has been running for years and believes it is the ideal way to clear his head during the dark days.
However, after finding out Lee-Ann had cancer, he considered giving up. But his wife continued to encourage the 40-year-old to do what he loved.
The offshore worker said: "At the time of her being diagnosed I had been running for a year and a bit.
"The last thing I wanted to do was run but she didn't want me to stop because of her.
"At that time Covid was destroying the planet and she was going through her treatment, it felt like the 30 minute run was just for me.
"I find running to be my meditation. I go for a run to switch off.
"99 times out of 100 I will leave the house and after a run I'll feel better. It has been nice to have the runs to focus on.
"My wife says that it helps her when she sees me stick on my gear even after some of the worst days."
Jamie has been running for 1232 days consecutively and has now began a mammoth challenge to raise funds for a charity that is close to his heart.
The runner said: "I got to the end of last year and thought I should put the running to good use because we'd been going to the Beatson for two and a half years.
"We are now very familiar with what they provide because up until the diagnosis I knew the name but I didn't know that all the services they provide is funded by charity.
"We'd been going every month so I couldn't think of a better charity to raise money for. I spoke to the Beatson and set myself of doing at least 5k a day for them.
"They are the name we associate with help.
"Everytime we've looked for advice we've spoken to the Beatson nurses.
"The Beatson is a massive thing in the West of Scotland so it seemed natural to raise cash for them. Once you start going there you are so thankful they exist."
As part of the epic feat, he ran the Glen Lyon Loop of four Munros in three hours and 20 minutes last Thursday.
He has so far raised £3,658 for the charity that has helped care for his wife.
Jamie said: "It comes in ebbs and flows. I can't go hell for leather everyday.
"But I throw a personal best attempt out there every now and then out of curiosity. I also have months where I have to slow down because my legs feel horrific.
"My wife says I'm the most stubborn person she has ever met so I'll keep going."
To visit the JustGiving page click here. Keep up with Jamie's fundraising efforts here.
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