AN Uffculme man is running the Lon-don Marathon on April 26 in memory of his uncle who died in his sleep three years ago.

James Dadd’s uncle, Martin, was seemingly fit and healthy when he died of the heart muscle disease cardiomyopathy.

Now James, 26, a tree surgeon of Fore Street, is raising awareness of the disease and funds for Cardiomyopa-thy UK (formerly the Cardiomyopa-thy Association), which provides inf-ormation and support for affected families.

James said: “Our family was shocked to the core and could not believe he was gone.

“Then we found out it was cardio-myopathy, an inherited condition we had never heard of.

“Because the condition runs in families, in the following months my fat-her, I and all my siblings had extensive tests to see if we were affected, but thankfully we were clear.

“Martin left a wonderful wife and two beautiful daugh-ters, and we all miss him every day.

“He was much loved, and I looked up to him.

“We want to stop this disease claiming the lives of others and are raising money to help other affected families.”

Cardiomyopathy UK also helps to educate doctors and nurses to improve diagnosis and treatment, and promotes research into new treatments.

James hopes to complete the mara- thon in 4½ hours and said: “I’m looking forward to joining the Cardiomy-opathy UK team, and soaking up the atmosphere with family and friends supporting me.

“It will be an emo-tional day, but hope-fully rewarding.”

James is also run-ning the Yeovil Half-Marathon and taking part in the Ciren-cester Tough Mud-der challenge in Aug-ust with his wife, Amber, to raise a grand total of over £1,500.

To support him, go to uk.virginmoney|giving.com/JamesDadd