TEN years since the death of his wife, Craig Peel is planning to cross the finish line of the Southport half marathon hand in hand with their two children.

The family will be running in memory of Claire who died aged just 29 after the disease spread to the rest of her body.

She had been pregnant and given birth to their second child Jessica at 26 weeks while fighting the illness.

Craig, who lived in Sutton Heath when he and Claire were married for six years, is a 43-year-old patrol constable with Merseyside Police and usually raises money for charity in the boxing ring fighting on behalf of the force in aid of Help for Heroes.

Craig, who has been a police officer for 13 years and patrols South Liverpool, said: "Because of the care and dedication shown to Claire during her illness I decided to raise money for the Lilac Centre.

"I remember how good they were to her and to the family so this is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Their children's nan Maureen and I always talk about their Mum. We tell them stories and show them pictures.

"After Claire was diagnosed Jessica was born at just 26 weeks and at one stage her weight was 2lb 2oz. But she came through fine. Sam was just four when his mum passed away."

Stepping into the ring to face some heavyweight punchers, Craig has not lost one fight and boasts a record of three wins and a draw. But he said the marathon will test him in other ways.

He added: "This will be more of an emotional challenge. We are going to have special t-shirts printed and the children will cross the line with me. I've not really set myself a target I just want to raise as much as possible.

"But I have never run that far before, 13.1 miles. I'm ready to go on July 5 and the sponsorship is coming in."