Lloyd Scott (pictured today) has raised £5m for charity in a series of gruelling challenges
A former professional footballer who famously completed the London Marathon in an old-fashioned diving suit that weighed 130 lbs is battling cancer for a second time, MailOnline can reveal.
Lloyd Scott hit the headlines in 2002 after completing the race to raise funds for charity in 5 days, 8 hours, 29 mins and 46 seconds, earning the world record for the slowest ever marathon finish.
His valiant effort kick started an astounding charity fund-raising career which has seen him generate more than £5 million in total by taking part in a series of gruelling challenges.
This included walking up the steps of the Gherkin in 2013 in his his deep-sea diving suit and crawling around the London Marathon course in 2011 dressed as a snail, which took him 26 days.
Now Mr Scott, 59, faces a personal battle for the second time in his life. He has just completed seven weeks of radiotherapy after being diagnosed with extremely rare stage three synovial sarcoma cancer, with doctors rating his survival chances at ‘between 60% to 70%.’
Following his latest health set back, he told MailOnline: ‘I’m one of life’s great fighters. My attitude has always been to roll my sleeves up and to just get on with it. There’s nothing you can’t do or overcome if you put your mind to it.’
In 1989, Lloyd was diagnosed with leukaemia while working as a firefighter. It came after he saved two children from a house fire, was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and tests led to the diagnosis. But Mr Scott fought back to full health.
Scott now 59, received a kiss from Paul Radcliffe back in 2002 when he finished the London Marathon while wearing a 130lb old fashioned dive suit in 5 days, 8 hours and 29 minutes
This time Mr Scott has been told that if the radiotherapy is not successful, he will have to undergo surgery to remove much of his throat in a bid to get rid of any remaining cancer and prolong his life.
But despite this, he revealed that he is already planning his next charity fund raising effort which will involve walking up steps along the Great Wall of China in his heavy diving suit in an attempt to break his own world record.
He aims to raise funds for charity Sarcoma UK, which helps those suffering with the cancer and The Blood Fund, which supports those with leukaemia.
Scott is pictured above collecting his MBE
After walking up the 1,037 steps of the Gherkin in 2013 in around three hours, Mr Scott earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for walking up the greatest number of steps in a deep-sea diving suit.
He admitted: ‘It’s a bit of a niche record but I’m determined to break it next year in China and raise money for these two charities.
‘I want to show people that you can overcome cancer not once, but twice and that you have to make the most of the life you have because this is not a dress rehearsal. This is what motivates me along with raising money for charities that desperately need it.’
Mr Scott, who lives in Theydon Bois, Essex, with his partner Lucinda Lord and pet dog Scamp, has also written a book about his life and exploits which he hopes will be published next year. In 2005 he was awarded an MBE for his charity fund raising work.
He is a former professional footballer with Blackpool, Leyton Orient and Watford who quit the game in his early 20s to become a firefighter. He has spent the past 25 years of his working life in the charity sector.
He actually announced his retirement from charity fund raising last October but quickly decided to make a return soon after by taking on the three peaks challenge, when he climbed the highest mountains of England, Scotland and Wales in his distinctive diving suit.
Mr Scott interviewed Sir Captain Tom Moore in the process and raised over £160,000 for the Lord Taverners Charity.
In October last year Scott took on the Three Peaks Challenge and interviewed Sir Tom Moore (pictured together) in the process, raising another £160,000 for charity
He conceded that his life has involved overcoming obstacles but that he has always remained ‘philosophical’ about whatever comes his way.
While undergoing radiotherapy earlier this year, he was made redundance from his job as a sports centre manager at Leytonstone School, East London.
Days after crawling around the London Marathon course where he endured vomiting, cramps and nosebleeds, and at one point was hospitalised, he was sacked by the children’s charity he was raising funds for.
Mr Scott said: ‘It is incredibly unsettling to battle the cancer and to find myself without a job when the treatment has finished.
‘I had good fortune in finding a bone marrow donor when I had leukaemia. Now it seems all my charity fundraising is bookended by first leukaemia and now cancer.’
He added: ‘What struck me was that when I was in the radiotherapy department recently one day there was a guy there who was very nervous having not had the treatment before. I said to him: ‘You know you can have your favourite music on when you’re in to take your mind off?’
‘I suppose I try to take things in my stride, but it was humbling to see how it can affect other people. If there’s anything I can do to give people a little bit of hope or inspiration, I’m very, very happy to do so.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9877375/London-Marathon-dive-suit-fundraiser-Lloyd-Scott-reveals-hes-battling-cancer-second-time.html
