A WOMAN is hoping to raise hundreds of pounds for Leukaemia Research after her husband was diagnosed with the disease.

Michele Allan, 41, is taking part in the 25th BUPA Great North Run on Sunday, September 18.

Mrs Allan, from Chester-le-Street, had given birth to son Jake four weeks before her husband Steven, 37, was diagnosed in April last year with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

It is a form of leukaemia that affects about 750 people in the UK every year.

She said: "We realised something was wrong as I had just had a baby and Steven felt far more tired than me.

"We thought it would just be anaemia, but when the doctor told us it was CML, it was such a massive shock for us both."

Mr Allan was treated at the University Hospital of North Durham and, after responding well to medication, he was said to be 99 per cent clear at his last check-up.

Mrs Allan, a photographic technician at the University of Durham, said: "We realise how lucky we are that Steven has come through this, and appreciate how crucial research is, so I have decided to do something to help."

She will be supported on the day of the race by her husband, Jake, who is now one, and her three-year-old daughter, Katie.

To sponsor Mrs Allan, in the Great North Run,visit www.justgiving.com/micheleallan