THE son of a former Andover teacher will take part in a challenge to walk, jog or run around the Isle of Wight to raise awareness of the illness that claimed his father’s life.

Paul Ungi’s father Stephen Vincent Anthony Ungi died of a brain haemorrhage aged 68 in December 2014 after suffering from an illness known as MDS, or myelodysplastic syndrome.

He was head of design technology at Harroway School between 2001 and 2006, before moving to Rookwood School until 2013.

MDS is an illness which turns eventually into leukaemia, affecting the bone marrow and blood.

Paul, 46, a recruiting candidate support manager for the Army at Upavon, said: “Due to my dad’s sad passing, I have taken it upon myself to put a team together to take part in the Isle of Wight Challenge in May, where we will attempt to complete 106km in under 30 hours non-stop, that’s the coastal route round the isle of Wight.

“It’s a mission to not only raise as much money as possible for the MDS UK Patient Support Group but to also, more importantly, raise as much awareness so that people understand what MDS is, as the medical profession is still not 100 per cent aware of what it is and how it affects patients.

“A lot of patients are wrongly diagnosed, as my father was, and the constant trips to hospital were so frustrating as we had to explain the severity of the disease to doctors and nurses.”

In December 2014 Mr Ungi was suffering extreme pain in his head, which his family thought was a migraine.

Paul added: “The day of his headache he still ventured, against our wishes, to the Hampshire Golf Club in Andover where he taught children with disabilities to play golf.”

The following day Mr Ungi died of a brain haemorrhage.

The pains he had suffered were a bleed to the brain.

To support Paul and his team’s effort go to uk.virginmoneygiving.

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