The Lysaght family, from Shrewsbury, raised £1,120 by running in the recent Shrewsbury Half Marathon – nearly four times their original target of £300.

The money is being given to the O’Connor Haematology Unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, which looked after Sarah Lysaght when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, and the family called in to visit the centre this week to tell staff how much they had raised.

Sarah was first admitted to the unit just before Christmas, 2012.

She said: “I was diagnosed and admitted all on the same day. Everything was such a blur but the staff were just so friendly and kind.”

To say thank you to the staff, Sarah’s husband Tommy, children Vicki, 19, and Tom, 22, and brother Alan Ritchings, 44, all signed up to take part in the Shrewsbury Half Marathon.

They had already smashed through their £300 target before taking a single step.

Tommy, 55, said: “It was very hot on the day and the race was very hard, but we did it! It was a case of just making sure we got round.”

Sarah added: “We would like to thank everybody who donated every penny. Their generosity has been fantastic.”

The Haematology Unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was named after Dr Nigel O’Connor in September 2013 in recognition of his work but also because he had the vision to start fundraising for the unit over a decade ago.

Dr O’Connor said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to the Lysaght family for raising this money for the Haematology Unit. It will be used to improve the care of patients with blood cancer, particularly lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma.”