A 24-year-old who beat cancer when he was a teenager will run a marathon to say thank you to the charity which “means everything” to him.

Mark Stern, who lives in Edgware, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma on is knee when he was 15-years-old.

But after treatment and help from the Teenage Cancer Trust, he was given the all clear.

To mark ten years since he was told he had cancer, he will run the London Marathon to raise money for the charity.

He said: “I’ve always said that the Teenage Cancer Trust is the only charity I’d want to run for. It’s inspired me to take on the gruelling 26 miles across the city to raise money.

“Without their help and support, my treatment wouldn’t have been as comfortable as it was. It was like a dream come true when I got the e-mail offering me a place.

“I don’t want to sound cliché by saying it means everything to me, but it does.”

Mark was diagnosed with cancer after he slipped and fell on a cobbled street on holiday in Spain in 2006, and a doctor told him to go home and visit a specialist immediately.

Back in England, he had six rounds of chemotherapy and five months later, he was given the all-clear.

He had hoped to raise £2,000 in sponsorship money but has smashed his target by £86.

He added: “My training has been going well, I’m making good pace to complete in my target time and I’ve come along way.”

To sponsor Mark visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=MarkSternRuns