A NURSE who lost a colleague to cancer in November proved he was tough enough to take on an intrepid triathlon in aid of raising money for charity.

Tim Farmer, who has been a nurse practitioner at Roundstone Surgery for a number of years, has raised nearly £1,000 from taking part in the Ironman Staffordshire event in memory of Dr Mari Shaw.

Raising money for Bloodwise, Mr Farmer said despite the challenge taking six hours to complete, he always had in mind the reason of why he was doing it.

“I was talking to a few people at the surgery about it and I said I wanted to take part in something and Mari was currently under treatment then and I said I would do it for her to raise money for Bloodwise,” said the 35-year-old of Highfield, Semington.

“She went off sick a couple of years ago and so a lot of people knew she wasn’t well.

“I know a lot of patients knew Dr Shaw and I wanted to make people aware that I’m doing something to remember her but also raise awareness of cancer.”

Consisting of a 1.2 mile open water swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a half marathon, the dad-of-two was in training for nine months for the challenge – something which he said was tough despite being keeping fit on a regular basis.

“It was difficult to train for in juggling work, family and other commitments but I made sure to get in some training before work, some during my lunch break and then after work again,” he added.

“Mentally it was challenging but you just have to keep think of why you are doing it which is to raise money for this amazing charity. There are other people in the world going through a lot work than what I did and that’s how I got through it.

“The week after the challenge was bad especially being at work and I ached quite a bit but I’ve been back at the gym now.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Tim-Farmer2