A Gateshead pharmacist is to run the London marathon in April raising money for scholarships at his alma mater a year after an auto-immune disease brought him to the brink of death.

Mark Learmouth, a 34-year-old advanced pharmacist practitioner at Sunderland Royal Hospital, became seriously ill with Guillain-Barre syndrome in January 2024. The disease “completely paralysed me,” says Mark, adding: “I almost died on two occasions, this resulted in a three-month stay in hospital.”

After watching last year’s London Marathon from his bed in a rehab hospital, he set himself the goal of running it as motivation for getting fit again.

Mark’s first job was in a local community pharmacy alongside his mother Joy, also a qualified pharmacist. “I decided that pharmacy was the career for me too,” says Mark, who in 2014 completed his MPharm at the University of Sunderland, where his mother had studied pharmacy and his sister would go on to study psychology. 

In April he will become the first person to raise money for the university’s Futures Fund, which provides scholarships aimed at supporting students to develop their careers. 

Mark says: “I thought it would be a fantastic way to give back to the university that’s given me so much.

“I hope that it will be able to help give others the same fantastic education myself and my family have received so that they can go on to have rewarding careers.”

Georgie Cox, head of alumni and development at the University of Sunderland, said: “We are incredibly proud to support Mark as he takes on the challenge of running the TCS London Marathon in April.

“His commitment to the University of Sunderland is truly inspiring and will raise vital funds for our scholarship programme, empowering students to reach their full potential.

“We encourage everyone to join us in supporting Mark on this incredible journey as together, through every mile, we can help create amazing opportunities for our students.”