At the tender age of three, Evan Fleming from Callington contracted a deadly strain of E.coli which caused his kidneys to stop functioning and his bowel to perforate — 17 years later and living with the challenges of chronic kidney disease this stoic young man has achieved his greatest feat to date — completing a half marathon in his university town of Swansea.

Evan’s kidneys function at 27% and in the years to come he will need dialysis four times a week for four hours each time whilst he waits for a kidney transplant, but for now, he is, in his own words, ‘stretching out the life of his kidneys as much as possible’ by doing everything he can to look after them — and that includes running.

The marine biology student completed the half marathon in two hours and 28 minutes, watched by a ‘surprise’ entourage of friends and family from the Tamar Valley cheering madly.

He told the Times: ‘It was great to do it and see everyone cheering me on. It definitely made it easier to do with the crowds there.

‘The last two miles were tough for everyone and some decided to walk that bit, but I wanted to keep running till the end.’

Evan said he enjoyed running so wanted to take it a step further to help the charity Kidney Care UK.

‘It was also a good thing to do to mark the end of my second year at university,’ he said. ‘I saw it advertised and thought I’ll just go for it. I always think I just need to get on with things. I have lived with kidney disease a long time and there are lots of people who do not have the freedom I have, so I want to make the most of it.’

Evan said through his primary school years his kidney function was fairly normal, but now he was getting older, it was deteriorating quite rapidly and made him feel very tired. He had to adjust his lifestyle accordingly and take naps in the day and look after his diet in order to prolong the life of his kidneys.

‘At some point the condition of my kidneys will put a halt on my life,’ he said. ‘I won’t be able to work or attend school so I want to push them as much as possible before that happens.’

With this, his fourth and biggest fundraiser to date for Kidney Care UK, Evan is hoping to clear £1,000.

Evan’s story was featured in the East Cornwall Times (now the Tamar Valley Times) in 2006 after locals in Stoke Climsland, where he was living at the time, raised money to assist his family to buy the things he needed and help with travelling costs to and from Bristol Children’s Hospital where he spent two months.

Evan had to have 20cm of his intestine removed and had a colostomy bag, regular dialysis, medication several times a day and a special salt-free diet.

Through the years Evan and his family have never allowed his problems get in the way of normal family life.

His mum Keely said: Evan has always been stoic and positive and that has really helped with the way he has viewed the world and what is happening to his body. He deals with all the consultants’ appointments and his degree, which can be quite draining, amazingly well.

‘I was worried about him leaving home to go to university and running a half marathon like this, but he just gets on with it and he has such good friends. This was a massive undertaking for Evan. I am exceptionally proud of him.’

Evan had a target to raise £500, he is now aiming for £1,000. To help him achieve that go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/evan-fleming