Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Rhiannon, and I have a niece and nephew, named Seren and Dylan, who suffer from the genetically inherited disease called Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) affects many areas of the body, but mainly the lungs and pancreas. Thick, sticky mucus builds up in the body's organs and creates chest infections which damage the lungs, and blocks the pancreas so that sufferers are unable to digest fat and protein.
My niece, 7 year old Seren, (she's in the picture with me above) has to take a minimum of 26 tablets a day, with inhalers at least twice a day, chest physiotherapy at least twice a day, and 4 liquid medicines every day. She also has a nebuliser up to three times a day to help break up the thick, sticky mucus in her lungs.
My nephew, 5 year old Dylan, also has to take a minimum of 26 tablets every day, with inhalers at least twice a day, chest physiotherapy at least twice a day, 3 liquid medicines every day, and 3 nebuliser treatments every day, both to prevent chest infections and to help break up the mucus in his lungs. He's also already had two operations in his short lifetime.
And despite all the hard work they have to put in every single day, just to stay alive, they still suffer from frequent chest infections and at the moment, the current average life expectancy for someone with CF is just 35 years. And because that is just an average life expectancy, many CF sufferers lose their lives to this terrible disease at a much younger age. Every single week in the UK, 5 little babies are born with CF, and every single week, 3 young lives are lost to CF.
I don't want to lose my niece or nephew to CF, which is why I have decided to run the Manchester United Santa Run (click for more information on the event) at Old Trafford on 6th December 2009, to help to raise desperately needed funds to help the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to carry out their vital research into a cure for CF.
And that is where I need your help. I know it's getting close to Christmas, and I know we're in the middle of the Credit Crunch, but please, dig deep and sponsor me online to help see off CF, for good. Both for my niece and nephew, and for the other 8,000 CF sufferers in the UK today.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So, go on, please dig deep and donate now.
Thank you.
P.S. Just in case you were wondering who the 'Rebecca Saunders' in the title bar of this page is, that's my sister, Seren and Dylan's Mum, who set this page up for me.
