sum: cells that contain numbers and letters

Hi

I am trying to include letters w/ number in a cell and still have Excel add up the column.

For example column might look like this:
1
2
1 AHV (in same cell)
1
1 CHV (ditto)

but when I add the letters to the cell, Excel stops recognizing the number and doesn't include it in the count:
1
2
1 AHV
1
1 CHV
_____
4 (The correct answer should be 6)

Thanks for your help.

Rebecca

If the numbers always precede the letters, and there's a space between them then try this formula

=SUMPRODUCT(--(0&LEFT(A1:A8,FIND(" ",A1:A8&" ")-1)))

where your data is in A1:A8

Thank you! That works perfectly