Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. If you take the time to read all of this and donate I’d be extremely grateful ❤️

There are over 10 million people who wake up with arthritis every morning and face the day in pain, that’s 1 in 6. The impact is huge as the condition slowly intrudes on everyday life – affecting the ability to work, care for a family, to move free from pain and to live independently. Yet arthritis is often dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing or shrugged off as ‘just a bit of arthritis’.

My own diagnosis was early 2021 but I was suffering a long while before. Being someone who used to be very active, fit and strong when the pain started I knew something wasn’t right. I used to go to the gym 6/7 days a week, rode and competed on my horses and did a ver labour intensive job. Around 2016/2017 I started getting serious pains in my joints. Initially put it down to a change in my job and ‘overdoing’ it. I went to see several different people, was given medication and stretches.

This went on and on until 2021 where I was referred to a rheumatologist who ran many scans and found I had Ankylosing Spondylitis or AS for short. AS is a form or Arthritis that affects the lower spine and other joints. For some it can become manageable but for others it massively impacts your life and you become disabled. There is no cure for it but treatment is available, there is also no known cause for it but there is a gene HLA-B27 that is linked to it. After initially trying to have mine managed by NSAI’s I was eventually put on to biologic treatment. Every 2 weeks I inject immune suppressants to suppress my immune system. Where this helps manage my AS it leaves me with no active immune system so unfortunately I can get ill easily and quickly. Late last year my sister also found out she has the same condition and is receiving the same treatment.

To date I have tried to not let this beat me, trying to remain as active as possible with cycling and completing JOGLE last year, I have plans to eventually complete a full Ironman and another goal is to run the London Marathon. So here I am! I will not let arthritis take over my life and I want to be able to help others along the way along with raising awareness and supply others with information they may need. So if you can donate anything, it all helps, big or small. And follow my journey to completing my goals and giving strength to others along the way!

Versus Arthritis invests in breakthrough treatments, the best information and vital support for everyone affected by arthritis.