TWENTY months after a kidney transplant saved his life, Harry Burrell completed the London Marathon, despite losing his shoe halfway.

The 32-year-old North Yorkshire telephone banker aimed to complete the course in five hours, but finished in four hours, twenty-two minutes.

The low point for Mr Burrell, who lives in Church Lane, Pannal, Harrogate, came when a fellow runner accidentally caught his shoe at the 13-mile point, near Tower Bridge.

Amid a sea of runners, it was kicked around and Mr Burrell had to move to the side in an attempt to see it, fearing he might be swept away in a stream of runners.

Mr Burrell said that several minutes later, a fellow runner handed him the shoe, which had been kicked some distance ahead, just before he was about to set off without it.

Cheered on by his mother, Ann, and sister, Cathy, at one point on the route, with five aunts and uncles at another vantage point, he said: "There was just a moment or two when I thought I might have to walk, but I kept going and was quite pleased with my time."

Mr Burrell, who found out he was to have his kidney transplant when he was called by St James's Hospital, in Leeds, at 6.15am that day, had never been a runner before his operation, but regained fitness by walking.

Along with family pet Simba, a leonberger breed dog, he went jogging and then running near his home.

He eventually outran Simba, and would drop him off back home as he strode on for several more miles.

The partnership became popular figures in the area.

Mr Burrell, who is entered in the Great North Run and is now a member of Harrogate Harriers, said: "The dog got fitter and eventually I got faster."

He expects to raise almost £6,000 through sponsorship for the National Kidney Research Fund, which will spend the money in Yorkshire.

Mr Burrell, who works for First Direct banking services, said the operation has transformed his life, of which running is now only a part.

He had suffered from kidney failure aged 15 and had undergone dialysis three times a week.

In four months of intense training for the marathon, he believes he ran almost 500 miles, but said it was all worth while.