A FORMER Royal Navy officer from Ashill will be taking part in the Bristol Half Marathon dressed as Bob the Builder this week.

Paul Guiver of Harvey Way will be jogging the 13.2 mile distance on Sunday, September 11, as a thank you to two charities who helped him beat cancer this year – the Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment (SURE) and Devon based charity FORCE.

Paul has served in the Falklands, the Gulf and Yugoslavia, but after leaving the Navy on March 17 last year he was diagnosed with cancer.

After five and a half hours of extensive surgery on a lump on his neck and courses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy around Christmas last year he is now on the mend.

Paul said: “All the people who looked after me were absolutely fantastic – I have come out the other end and recently got pretty much the all clear.”

The Bob the Builder outfit he will be running in is apt, as over the past couple of years Paul has passed his City and Guilds in advanced plumbing, electrical installation and plastering, meaning the nickname has stuck with his friends.

Paul, who was presented with a British Empire Medal for his service during the Gulf War, is hoping to give back to all those people who helped him through his fundraising jog.

Paul added: “I have been overwhelmed by all the well-wishers and I’m hoping to do it in a fairly reasonable time.”

He wanted to say special thanks to Andrew Drysale, the surgeon at Musgrove Park Hospital, Dr Hwang, the oncologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and his ‘angels’- head and neck nurses Jo Greedy and Jo Dauncey.

TO find out more about Paul’s fundraising run or to make a donation follow the links below.