On the 10th July I will be doing a 10k run to raise money for the Bohpal Medical Appeal.

The Bohpal disaster remains the worst ever industrial accident in human history. In 1984 a chemical plant operated by Union Carbide leaked 27 tonnes of methyl isocyanate exposing 500,000 people to a highly toxic gas. Those who awoke the next day faced the horrendous task of burying their loved ones who didn’t.

Here’s one survivors’ account:

“The poison cloud was so dense and searing that people were reduced to near blindness. As they gasped for breath its effects grew ever more suffocating. The gases burned the tissues of their eyes and lungs and attacked their nervous systems. People lost control of their bodies. Urine and faeces ran down their legs. Women lost their unborn children as they ran, their wombs spontaneously opening in bloody abortion.”

The Bohpal Medical Appeal is not raising money for the dead, it’s raising it for those living with and suffering from the consequences of a chemical spill that was never cleaned up. It’s estimated that 25,000 people have died as a result of the spill but over 120,000 still suffer from physical ailments and deformities caused by living in a toxic dump and depending on polluted water supplies – take a look at some of the pictures on this page.

Earlier I said that this was an ‘accident’ but that’s being far to kind to Union Carbide. Six separate safety systems the company installed to prevent and warn of a leak were allowed to fall into disrepair as the plant ceased to be profitable and trained staff were replaced by a skeleton crew who ultimately caused the disaster through their incompetence.  

I appreciate this is a pretty heavy topic but for almost my entire lifetime the people of Bohpal have been suffering and this is a good opportunity redress an enormous injustice. Running 10k will be no great achievement in itself but with your help the Bohpal Medical Appeal will be able to leave a different sort of legacy, one of free, equitable healthcare for the people of this blighted city.

Thank you for your support,

Ol