Hi everyone!
Thanks very much for visiting my web page! By donating to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust you will be helping tens of thousands of children and young adults in the UK in their fight against this life-threatening disease.

Feb 2006

So its just 8 weeks until the big day and we have some important news!!  Thanks to some special people at the CF Trust, we have been asked to run in fancy dress as football team mascots.  Both Manchester United (yeah, the biggest club in the world) and Chelsea (last year's and probably this year's English premiership winners) support the CF Trust, and it is a great honour for us to wear their official mascot uniforms on the big day.  Check us out on www.sports-mascots.co.uk I will run as Fred the Red and Ash will run as Stamford the Lion.  Its gonna be great and we are sure to get some coverage on the BBC.  So, now we are stuck into our training and need to find a donation for costumes to train in.  Fingers crossed we wont have to pay for them, and that a local business will help us out.  The costumes weigh 8 lbs; the head alone is 5.5 lbs.  Its gonna be a struggle but we both believe we can do it!  Let's hope its not too hot on the 23rd April!!!

Dec 2005

Well...
It's that time of year again when I risk freezing my bum off to train for this torturous event called the London Marathon, all in the name of a good cause! If I haven't quite reiterated this point enough, I am raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, a charity that is particularly special to me. For some of you who might not know, can't remember or just so happened to stumble on this web-page randomly, I have Cystic Fibrosis!

Of course, judging by the picture on the left I look rather beefy (no really I do!!), so perhaps I do not show any visible signs of having a life-threatening disease such as CF. However, I am one of the extremely lucky few (and I mean few) that is able to live 'a normal life' with the disease. A bit about the disease and how it affects the vast majority of its patients:

The symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis are widespread but predominantly affect the lungs and pancreas. A quote from the CF Foundation (The US based CF charity): "The defective gene causes the body to produce an abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections. These thick secretions also obstruct the pancreas, preventing digestive enzymes from reaching the intestines to help break down and absorb food." In most cases, the causes of death for people with CF are related to poor lung function and a decreasing vital capacity causing gradual lung failure.  As there is no cure for CF, the vast majority of patients put themselves on the waiting list for lung transplants... that sometimes never come. Meanwhile, they can often spend countless days and months in hospital or at home wired to ventilation machines, doing hours of physiotherapy and inhaled (nebulised) or intra-venous (IV) antibiotics.

Believe it or not... I have gradually come to the harsh realisation that this could, in fact, be me in a few years. Here's the stuff you need to remember: Statistically, it is the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease, as approximately '1 in every 2500 births' is to a baby with CF. In fact, one in 25 (thats 4%) of us is a non-symptomatic carrier of the disease. The life expectancy of someone with Cystic Fibrosis is just 31 years.

So yeah, you can imagine how much I appreciate being a fit and healthy 25 year old CF patient. Believe me, I know how lucky I am! The impingements of the disease upon my life have only ever been slight, but of course being in such a privileged and fortunate position, I began to see it as my duty to help those less fortunate. In 2005 I started my fundraising endeavour for the CF Trust by raising over £5000, running the London Marathon. I had set myself a target time of sub-4 hours, but after finishing in just under 4 hrs 15 mins, I (stubbornly) decided to continue training in order to reach my goal.

Avoiding the inevitable temptation of Guinness, in October 2005 I ran the Dublin marathon and on my second marathon attempt I finally achieved my target time. Amidst the pain and the tears of joy, I crossed the finish line in 3 hrs 57 mins! I felt a sense of relief, but I knew this was just the beginning. Since I began running in October 2004, I've noticed a marked improvement in both my running times and also my fitness and general health as a CF patient. I have begun encouraging (ok, bullying!) others (both CF and non-CF) to take up running or any other sort of exercise.

Extensive research has shown the incredible benefits of exercise for CF patients, and for me personally, it has been a hugely benefitial part of my life for as long as I can remember. But I realise that for most people with this potentially debilitating disease, the thought of running just one mile is daunting. Running 26.2 is largely unheard of!

But seriously, I believe that together we can really make a difference for the thousands of children and young adults with CF in the UK. As its main objective, the CF Trust funds medical and scientific research aimed towards better understanding, treating and curing Cystic Fibrosis. They provide a vital lifeline for people, like myself, living everyday with CF. Whats more, we are well on the way to being able to fund a full program of gene-therapy testing that should commence in the next few years, providing we have the funds. So, come on, give generously!!

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cystic Fibrosis Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. That means for a donation of, say, £100, the CF Trust will actually receive £128!! So please help us today and make a difference. Your donation will go a long way... and hopefully further than 26.2 miles! There is a better future out there for CF patients and you and I can provide it for them.

Thank you very much for all your support.

With much love, Rob