An old friend of our's has been diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare liver disease that has no cure. As well as liver deterioration (in some cases leading to liver failure and liver transplantation for those lucky enough to get a donor organ) PSC sufferers often have associated autoimmune diseases and also have a significant increase in the risks of bowel, liver and pancreatic cancers.

On the day she was diagnosed back in 2009 her and her husband were told very little by the hospital and had so many questions about how it would affect their lives. Living with PSC is very tough. It’s hard to cope with the many symptoms that affect all aspects of your life, whilst knowing that things could take a dramatic turn for the worse at any point.

The PSC Support charity offered them a lifeline. It gave them access to expert information on the disease, face-to-face Q&A sessions with leading research scientists and links to others in the same boat. Without this help you can feel very isolated in a sea of scary online articles.

The charity also funds research into PSC, which is vital because as the disease is so rare it’s hard to get funding from drug companies.

Run entirely by volunteers, the charity also promotes issues around PSC including organ donation. 

In order to raise money for this worthy charity I'm taking part in sponsored cycle ride from Greenwich to Ashbourne in Derby. The team I'm riding with are aiming to complete this journey of 150 miles in a single day, so please could you sponsor me to make the saddle sores worthwhile!

Thankyou.