A STROKE survivor will take on the Virgin London Marathon on April 24 to raise vital funds for charity.

James Kempton, 44, had a stroke in March 2014 whilst at home with his family. The father-of-three, who works as a finance director, lost all feeling in the right hand side of his body, and his face dropped on one side.

Luckily his wife recognised the symptoms of a stroke from the FAST campaign and dialled 999 immediately.

James said: "I'm very lucky to have made a good recovery, though it’s been a hard journey for both me and my family, and something I still face on a daily basis.

"I've always loved running and to complete the London Marathon has been on my post-stroke bucket list for the past two years.

"The whole experience has given me a new perspective on how precious life is and I want to do as much as I can to raise awareness of the condition.

James, who lives in the New Forest, will be running in aid of health charity the Stroke Association, which provides support and advice for sufferers across the country.

"Training has been hard - I’ve never ran this far before," he said.

"But I am finding it oddly compulsive as well as reasonably painful.

"My aching legs and sore knees keep trying to tell me I've seen better days, but I hope to convince them soon that it is actually fun."

Robert Hope, fundraising manager at the Stroke Association, said: "James is truly going the extra mile for the Stroke Association, and we can’t wait to cheer him along the way.

"With around 152,000 strokes a year in the UK - that’s around one every three and a half minutes - it is vital that we have people like James to help raise funds."

To sponsor James visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/jameskempton.

For more information about stroke visit www.stroke.org.uk.