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'I did a run because Jeremy Clarkson saved my life'

Elliot Ball
BBC News, South West
John Acres
BBC Radio Devon
Andrew Hood Andrew Hood has short black hair and has sun glasses resting on his head. He is standing in a green field.Andrew Hood
Andrew Hood ran 34-miles between Oxford Train Station and Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington

"Without [Jeremy] Clarkson, without [Richard] Hammond, without [James] May, there is a good chance I would not be talking now."

Andrew Hood, from North Devon, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2021 after watching an episode of the television series The Grand Tour, which caused him to get checked for the disease.

He completed a 34-mile (55km) ultra-marathon between Oxford railway station and Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm on Saturday to show his appreciation to the presenter and to raise awareness.

"Clarkson prompted me [to get checked], so I feel it is only right I pay that forward," said Mr Hood.

PA Media A wooden sign is seen outside a wooden barn. The sign reads "Diddly Squat Farm Shop" and it has a wooden chicken fixed to the top of it. A large queue of people are seen waiting outside the wooden barn structure.PA Media
Mr Hood ended his 34-mile ultra-marathon at Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm

In the episode that caused the ultra-marathon runner to get himself checked, the motoring trio "had a little joke" about "getting up in the middle of the night and needing to go to [the toilet]".

He said it was these jokes that made him begin to think about prostate and testicular cancers.

It was then in the shower when he began to think more about testicular cancer that he noticed one of his testicles had "shrunk".

"One of mine had shrunk to the size of a marble and had gone rock solid," he said.

Mr Hood added: "It typically affects 15-year-olds up to those in their late 40s. The average age of diagnosis is about 34 - I was 48.

"I've had a very good friend who is 69 and was diagnosed last year."

Discussing his run, Mr Hood said: "I ran to the Farmer's Dog, which is [Clarkson's] pub, first of all.

"That was about the halfway mark of about 17 miles [27.5km] and I had the most amazing welcome and reception.

"When I arrived at Diddly Squat, it was a very hot day... and I arrived there to a really lovely reception - I got cheered in and I got rounds of applause.

"I knew I would find it emotional and I did - I cried."

PA Media Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are seen stood next to three cars by a large tree. Clarkson is wearing a navy blue t-shirt with a patterned light blue shirt over the top with blue jeans. He is clean shaven and has short, grey, curly hair. Hammond is stood next to a purple classic car in beige coloured trousers and a white shirt. He has medium-length dark hair and a goatee beard. May is sat on the purple car wearing an orange shirt and grey cargo trousers. He has long grey hair and a grey beard. PA Media
Mr Hood said without Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May he may not be alive today

Clarkson was unable to greet Mr Hood at the finish line due to commitments outside the UK, but the Devon man wrote a letter to the presenter in which he thanked him for saving his life.

He wrote: "Thank you will never be enough.

"You have ensured my children still have a father and you have ensured my wife still has someone who won't empty the dishwasher."

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