A SUFFERER of a little-known cancer has rallied dozens ofpeople from his town to help save lives.

John McEwan, 54, was diagnosed with myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, last April and is now in remission after a stem cell transplant.

John, his wife Marlyn, 53, and son Michael, 23, wanted to raise cash for research into the condition. But their modest plan for a sponsored walk took off - and they've ended up with 80 people from Barrhead taking part.

The family hope the three-mile walk around the town on Sunday will raise £2000 for charity Myeloma UK's awareness week.

John, a construction project manager, said: "We started off with about 20 people and it snowballed. It's very humbling the support we have had from the community.

"The reason we are doing it is that about 97% of the population - including myself, until I was diagnosed - don't know what myeloma is.

"A lot of people get it mixed up with the skin cancer melanoma.

"It's incurable but it's treatable. I'm getting stronger - hence the reason for this walk now."

John started getting back pains and a blood test in April confirmed he had cancer.

He had bouts of chemotherapy and had a transplant, where his own stem cells were regenerated and put back into his body. He's now back home but has to have regular check-ups at the Southern General Hospital.

John added: "I'm in remission, so at the moment I don't look any further than that.

"The pain and the other symptoms have certainly eased since I had the treatment."

Wife Marlyn said: "It was out of the blue and such a shock because he was always healthy, not a thing wrong with him. It was a real blow to the family.

"People have heard of bone cancer but myeloma is not widely recognised - that's the main reason we are doing this."

Eric Low, chief executive of Myeloma UK, said: "We cannot thank the McEwens enough for mobilising their community and helping to raise awareness of this little-known disease." If you want to join Sunday's walk call Marlyn on 0141 580 2199.