Graduate who studied while suffering cancer runs marathon

Duncan Darroch-Thompson sat his finals in Chinese at the university just six months after being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He underwent six cycles of chemotherapy, lost his hair and was left severely fatigued, with minimal concentration span.

But despite his illness, he got a First for his degree after the university worked with him to keep him studying. It paid for taxis for him to get to lectures, and rearranged his timetable to help him cope.

Two years on, Mr Darroch-Thompson, 25, decided to raise money for the cancer charity by completing the Brighton Marathon. During that time, his grandmother Sallie has also overcome breast cancer. He took part in the race with sister Celia, 27, and said: “I had to put every ounce of energy I had into each exam and afterwards I would sleep for 12 hours. I think I got through by just being bloody-minded and powering through.

“Afterwards I didn’t have much memory of what I had written – I was just doing it question by question. I would have been quite happy with a 2:1 so I was really surprised to get a First.

“We have everything to celebrate and wanted to run for Cancer Research UK because the focus is on finding better treatments and aiming for a cure. To me, improving the effectiveness of treatment is more important than improving the quality of care, which is why I wanted to raise money for Cancer Research UK.”