A 72-YEAR-OLD man from Chippenham is preparing to run all the way to Manchester to raise awareness of a genetic disorder which affects his balance and makes him startle easily.

Jeff Kirk, of Hardens Mead, was diagnosed with hyperekplexia three years ago after he fell twice in the Bristol Half Marathon without explanation.

The 72-year-old, who was forced to retire from his job as a car valeter in Pewsham, said the diagnosis explained why he fell or jumped during most of his runs.

“I fall often during my runs and when I attempted to do the half marathon in Bristol in 2014 I fell twice,” he said.

“The woman I was running with told me enough was enough. I stopped running after that because my confidence had gone.

“It was getting serious, so I took myself off to the Great Western Hospital where I had three or four MRI scans and a CAT scan in Oxford but they all came back clear.

“A couple of months later another doctor from the hospital took a look at me and said I was the first person in 30 years that he had heard of with these complaints and that it was hyperekplexia.”

The disorder, which is caused by a series of genetic mutations, only affects one other person in the UK, and to mark the Hyperekplexia Society’s forthcoming 10th anniversary, Mr Kirk is going to run to meet him in Manchester.

“I’ve bought a van and some decals and I am going to be running there in stages. I am not doing this for sponsorship – I am doing it to raise as much awareness as possible,” he said.

“People don’t know what it is, or what it could do, as it is an unseen illness.

“To help train I am going to do the Chippenham Half Marathon and then in October, I am going to attempt my first ever duathlon at Bowood. Now I’m on medication, it is one of the only things I have left to do. As long as I am going forward, I am fine.”