Newcastle student completed London Marathon with the man who saved her life
Report by Sarah Kelly
Getting in the miles for a marathon can be a lonely business and a little wet but come the big day Vicky Lawrence certainly won't be alone.
Along with the thousands of other taking part in the London Marathon she'll be running alongside someone very special....someone who saved her life.
Vicky was just 8 years old when she became ill with blood cancer. She went from being a sporty and active child to being unwell - and was diagnosed with aplastic anemia which is an autoimmune condition where your bone marrow is destroyed.
It's very rare - and the only cure is a bone marrow transplant.
That's where Elliott Brock came in- he'd signed up to the Stem Cell Register and didn't think twice about donating.
It was the few hours that Elliott donated that saved Vicky's life.
Vicky received her transplant on 5th September 2008 and says if I hadn't had that transplant, she would probably have been dead by Christmas.
Despite their close bond being created by the gift of life, Vicky and Elliott remained strangers for many years. Vicky said: "After my transplant my parents wrote letters, I drew cards but everything has to remain anonymous for the first two years."
When Vicky turned 15 she decided to write to Elliott, he replied and they decided to meet up and a true friendship was formed.
It is that friendship that will see them take on 26.2 miles on Sunday- not an easy task especially when your running partner lives almost 300 miles away but Vicky used to taking on big challenges.
They're running to raise money and awareness for the Anthony Nolan Trust- a charity that not only helped save one of their lives but helped create a lifelong friendship.