Marathon man runs for daughter

Evo-Stik Northern Premier League defender Anthony Lloyd is swapping his football boots for running shoes on Sunday to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Farsley AFC's right-back, pictured, is hoping to raise more than a £1000 by completing the Great North Run half-marathon on Tyneside. Lloyd, who returned to the First Division North's Villagers in the summer from Ossett Town, has been inspired by his three-year-old daughter Isabella who has the lung disease.

And it will be a personal double triumph for the 29-year-old who starred in Huddersfield Town’s play-off winning side at Cardiff in 2004 and has also played for York City, Guiseley, Bradford PA, Stocksbridge Park Steels, North Ferriby and Glasshoughton Welfare.

Not only is he raising money for the charity to help children like his daughter, he's also celebrating another milestone in his comeback from an horrific playing injury in 2009 which almost cost him a leg.

Lloyd, who was playing for Guiseley at Kendal in the FA Cup when he was hurt, told the Huddersfield Examiner: "I broke my leg really badly and the doctors said I’d never play again or jog around with my daughter. It was car-crash material. I'd just gone to pass the ball back to the keeper and someone went in knee-high and did a lot of damage. I was close to losing my leg from my knee down."

Lloyd commutes to Throstle Nest from his home in Pontefract where he lives with his wife Rachael and Isabella. He says the despair he felt when his daughter was first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a baby had now given way to pride.

"Above all, I am inspired by my daughter and hopefully she can be inspired my me," declared the player. "I want Isabella to see me doing things like the Great North Run for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and then she can stay as fit and healthy for as long as she can. I want her to be as proud of me as I am of her and the progress she is making despite having the disease."

He added: "She's doing really well. I'm doing the Great North Run to raise much-needed cash for the charity but also to raise awareness of the disease. Things are getting better and better and cystic fibrosis seems to getting a higher profile even since Bella was born."

To sponsor Lloyd visit: www.justgiving.com/Anthony-Lloyd