RACE AND EVENT MOVED TO 2nd October 2020 (COVID PERMITTING) 

Welcome to the Wolfpack UK @ 24 Hour Buckmore JustGiving page!

Why support Wolfpack UK and HAE?

Firstly, thank you for clicking and reading on the Wolfpack UK @ Buckmore JustGiving page, please have a read below to find out more on why we are raising money for HAE UK and hopefully you reading about HAE will raise awareness in the condition which I unfortunately was diagnosed with early 2019

Many of you reading this will never have heard of the condition, which I personally hadn't until early 2019 until after 4 years of random swellings, I even had doctors saying it was an allergic reaction and one even saying it was due to a insect bite and nothing to worry about! - I was finally diagnosed after some dental surgery, my face was swollen with my lips blowing up looking like sausages and
more worryingly my throat closing up. I was not aware of what was happening to me and also not knowing what to do, I tried taking over the counter medication but it had no effect on making me feel better or calming my swellings. Luckily I managed to survive but some may not be so lucky in the future. I now have an action plan of how I now have to treat and react to these potentially life threatening attacks, I now have to carry an epipen like injection called Icatibant at all times which I can self-administer if an attack happens and also another medication called Berinet if I were to have a more serious attack which would require a trip to hospital to be administered. 

THE CONDITION IS USUALLY HEREDITORY...
I now have to be aware of my body as the attacks are random and no 2 attacks are the same - there are no known triggers and can lay dormant for days, weeks and sometimes years before appearing as a single attack or potentially cluster attacks. Everyday tasks can potentially trigger a attack and precautions will and must be taken for me to even take part in this event also which will include injections before, during and after the event to build up enough of the C1 so that I can avoid an attack - I have recently had to stop playing football as this 9 out of 10 times brought on an attack but I don't want this disease to control what I can and can't do! 

My team suggested that we should raise some money and awareness for the condition which now I have for the rest of my life which I was very humbled by and thought it would be a great idea as we were already entered doing the race of our own backs! 

The Team - Wolfpack UK

The team consists of 7 normal people of who some of them like to think they are aspiring racing drivers on a computer/games console which is how we all met some 10 years ago! We only have some go karting events between us all of us (birthdays/arrive and drive session) with 3 of the team members last year taking part in a 3 hour endurance event at the same track back in May 2019 where we were instantly hooked and started planning a team to take on the behemoth task of driving a Go-Kart for 24 hours!

The team consists of: Jake Towns, Cy Farmer, Joshua Towns, Hamish Connell, Dave Ennis, Mike Wilcox and Dan Yates - Where we attempt to race 35 other teams consisting of 3-10 drivers for 24 hours of non-stop action! 

All the action will be available on Youtube (Link to follow once available) with a dedicated commentary team and living timings on screen to keep up to date with the latest track action and also I (Jake) and Joshua will be live streaming our stints using a GoPro so you can watch the action in the kart 

Event Information - https://www.buckmore.co.uk/event/165574

HAE - What is it? - taken from www.haeuk.org

HAE is characterised by huge swelling of the tissues (angioedema) which last from 3 to 5 days. These swellings can occur on any part of the body; hands and feet, arms and legs, trunk, intestines, genital organs, face, tongue, neck and airway.

Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) is a rare but potentially life-threatening inherited condition. HAE symptoms include episodes of oedema (swelling) in various body parts including the hands, feet, face and airway. HAE affects 1/50,000 of the population. Because it is so rare most doctors would not see a case in their entire career, and misdiagnosis is common. Patients can suffer for many years before they receive the correct diagnosis.

HAE patients
have a defect in the gene that controls a blood protein called C1 Inhibitor (C1INH). C1INH is part of a complex cascade of reactions that control the release of fluids from capillaries into the surrounding tissues, thereby causing oedema (swelling)

In addition, patients often have bouts of excruciating abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting that is caused by swelling in the intestinal wall. Airway swelling is particularly dangerous and can lead to death by asphyxiation.

HAE patients frequently spend a long time before they are correctly diagnosed. They are often referred to allergy, yet their swellings will not
respond to antihistamine or steroids. Some of them with abdominal swelling are subjected to unnecessary exploratory procedures even going so far as to have appendectomies or bowel surgery; some are even considered to have psychiatric problems (it is no coincidence that Hereditary Angioedema used to be called ‘Angio-Neurotic Oedema’). One of the diagnostic features is family history; prior to the condition being identified, about 30% of patients died from lack of treatment.

And yet treatment is now available, is easily administered and is relatively inexpensive. Patients with Hereditary Angioedema either lack a regulatory protein called ‘C1-Inhibitor’ or their C1-Inhibitor has very low activity. Most patients have a family history, but some are spontaneous mutations. The problem is, these mutations can be passed onto offspring.

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