George Adams

I have been a junior doctor at Imperial for the last 6 years; 4 of these as a haematology registrar. I have seen first-hand the impact The Blood Fund has on patient care and research opportunities within haematology.  

The Blood Fund supports the world-renowned Hammersmith Hospital Haematology department, which cares for people with a wide range of serious (and often life-threatening) blood disorders including leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, sickle cell disease and haemophilia. The Blood Fund enables patients to access ethically approved clinical trials which aim to improve our understanding and management of these complex conditions, as well as the provision of specialist haematology and clinical trial nurses. Specialist nurses provide an invaluable role in supporting patients and facilitating trials.  The fund also supports important research, including that of young doctors (such as myself) in their early research careers, through the provision of access to facilities and laboratories.  This opportunity has been invaluable to me and it is my hope this privilege can be extended to other young motivated doctors and scientists.    

I am a keen runner and this will be my 7^th marathon, however the first in my home city. I am honoured to be running the London Marathon for this remarkable charity.  Any donations, no matter how small, will be
hugely appreciated and will help The Blood Fund to continue making the huge impact it has on improving the lives of patients with haematological disorders.
  

Richard Willoughby

In May, it will be 10 years since I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).  I’ve been a patient of the Hammersmith Haematology Department all of that time and the beneficiary of what they do, including a recent clinical trial.  The outlook for CML patients like me has improved dramatically over the last 20 years – much of what The Blood Fund supports is aimed at achieving similar improvements for all blood disorders, including essential early research for which there are no other funding sources. The charity has almost no overhead which means essentially all donations find their way to the activities it supports.   

I too am a keen runner, having taken it up just under 5 years ago, although London will be only my third marathon.  I’m delighted to be supporting George in raising donations for the Blood Fund.