Having had a Lung transplant 3 years ago my aim is to raise awareness of Ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis along with the need for organ donors. At the age of 50 I was diagnosed with this condition just as I was training to become a nurse. Suffering with colitis as a 14 year old then having the colon and large colon taken out aged 39, I never for one moment thought I would suffer anything major again in my life..How wrong, IPF kills fast, most people die as there is no cure. You may think I was lucky having the transplant, Yes I was, there were only 33 lung transplants at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle last year, There are only 5 hospitals that do lung transplants.
There is a shortage of donor's let alone awareness of IPF. The average lifespan of a transplanted lung is 5 years.
I did become a nurse and was luck my body held out for a year. I had the transplant in March 14 returning to work on the wards in the July. I picked up every bug going so switched to community nursing. Still picked up bugs so along with my manager it was decided that I should retire on medical grounds.

I still finding this hard. However, last March a bunch of my friends and I did a charity ride on mopeds 171 miles coast to coast raising over £2500 for the pulmonary trust at Castle hill Hospital in Hull, Since ten I have learned that there is a vast shortage of donors .
The aim is to raise awareness of the need for donors and an insight into the killer that is IPF. The van will be done up with logos supporting and highlighting the cause. I hope to be able to get other IPF support groups involved in some way. This time I need to get the car first so I am asking for you help.
This is just the first step to next years event I really do hope we can get it to go national. If you need more information on IPF you can contact the British Lung Foundation Site. Be aware it is scary stuff. I am also free to talk about living with this condition along with my
transplant Thank,s