A FATHER will be cycling 100 miles as a thank you to the charity and bone marrow donor who saved his son.

Father-of-two Jason Branthwaite said his families world "stopped" when they heard that their son, Freddie had a rare bone marrow condition.

The youngster, now aged two, was placed on the Antony Nolan register — a blood cancer charity — and underwent a transplant operation in December.

Seven months on Freddie and his family are celebrating the youngster reaching his 100 days post transplant milestone.

Mr Branthwaite, of Bury Clarion cycling club said: "Our world stopped for a while when you hear that your little boy may not make it.

"It’s like being hit with a sledgehammer — it’s something that happens to other people.

"It’s just mind-blowing to sit there and think a stranger somewhere out there decided to do this for people they don’t know."

Following his transplant, the Branthwaite family, from Breightmet, started a campaign to get more people onto the register and as a thank you to the Antony Nolan charity, Mr Branthwaite will be cycling in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 event.

He added: “Cycling 100 miles is a big challenge but I’ll get round no matter what.

"The training has been tough but the thing that gets me through is thinking about Freddie when my legs hurt.

"My local cycling club Bury Clarion have been a great support too.”

And Freddie is well on the road to recovery.

Mr Branthwaite said: "Freddie is doing really well, his doctor said he is the poster boy for unrelated donors.

"We are just stunned by the progress and its ridiculous how well he has coped with it, he sailed through it all.

"When I think about Freddie’s donor, I think I’d just love to hug them and thank them for saving Freddie’s life. ‘Thank you’ just doesn’t cover it, there a no words for what this person and Anthony Nolan have done for my family.

"Without them, my son wouldn’t be here and there would be a big massive hole in our life."

To sponsor Mr Branthwaite go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jason-Branthwaite.

People aged 16-30 can also sign up to the Anthony Nolan register at www.anthonynolan.org