MORE than £3,000 was raised for a charity set up by the family of a much-loved dad from Manley.

It’s been 14 years since Colin Gibson died from an rare and aggressive neuroendocrinal tumour of the stomach, just months after receiving pioneering radioactive treatment at Liverpool Royal Hospital.

Colin, aged just 47, was one of the first people to have the treatment, known as the ‘magic bullet’ and involves patients being injected with radioactive drugs, which target the cancer directly.

Although the treatment helped the father-of-three somewhat, his cancer was so advanced that it took his life just eight months after his diagnosis.

Back in 1999 the drugs had to be administered in special side rooms and the patient kept in lonely isolation for five days until the radiation wore off.

The rooms had no televisions or radio and during his treatment, Colin’s visitors, who had to sit a minimum of 6ft away, were limited to just two, half-an-hours a day.

But Colin was passionate about furthering the research and technology of the treatment in the hope of successfully treating others in the future, so as a tribute to him his family and friends set up The Colin Gibson Charity to raise money for two new radioactive treatment rooms to be built at Liverpool Royal.

These opened in 2001 and since then have provided vital support to cancer patients going through difficult treatment.

This year, to continue raising funds for the charity, Colin’s family decided to hold a charity fun run starting at the Tiger’s Head pub in Norley.

More than 30 runners of various ages took part, braving wet conditions to run around the village.

There was a barbecue, cake stall, bouncy castle and raffle with prize donations from Delamere Forest Golf Club, Oulton Park, The Goshawk in Mouldsworth, The Tigers Head Pub, Willington Hall Spa and Manley Mere.

Abby Lowry, who helped start the charity alongside her best friend Olivia, Colin’s youngest daughter, said the event was a great success.

“We raised a brilliant £3,000 on the day and we are really pleased as this was the first actual event we’ve held for the charity.

“The sponsorship from the runners was fantastic, with a special thank you to one of our runners, Dave Twiss who raised about £1,200 in sponsorship.

“Despite the rain we were really pleased at how the day went and would like to thank all participants, helpers and organisers.

She added: “The Colin Gibson Charity will be making the fun run an annual event, which we are hoping to build on every year.”