Help Fund Pulmonary Fibrosis Research in Memory of Lawrence Matz

Twelve years ago, I lost my dear close friend, Lawrence Matz, to pulmonary fibrosis at the too-young age of 58, just 2 years after diagnosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and debilitating lung disease that causes scarring of the lung, leading to breathing difficulties and reduced lung function. It mainly affects males over the age of 50, and 1 in 5 people have the gene that can give them pulmonary fibrosis.

In 2012, I cycled a mammoth 1000 miles from London to Barcelona to raise funds for Breathing Matters, a charity that Lawrence helped set up, researching into pulmonary fibrosis. Money raised funded the Lawrence Matz Clinical Research Fellow who went on to develop a pioneering cryoscopic lung biopsy service; a much needed alternative than obtaining diagnostic biopsies through surgery. This was a first in the UK and leveraged a further £300,000 for research in this area.

I vowed that, if a cure had not been found in 10 years, I would do another hare-brained cycle to help boost Breathing Matters’ research. This October (a little later than planned due to the pandemic), I am cycling from London to Valencia, a 1,135 miles ride with some gruelling climbs in the Pyrenees, and an even bigger challenge than my ride back in 2012.

I am considerably older and not as spritely or healthy as I was the first time and so this is a massive deal for me, but my determination is higher than ever and I am on board with putting in the hundreds of miles training needed to get me to Valencia. I am hoping that this will inspire donations in line with the amount of effort and training required to accomplish the journey.

Lawrence was blessed with so many dear friends and I am hoping that this mammoth ride will raise some serious money towards this very deserving charity. Thank you for digging deep to make a real difference and to keep Lawrence’s memory alive. Lawrence maybe gone but please lets show him he is not forgotten.

To read more about Breathing Matters work, please visit https://www.breathingmatters.co.uk/research/

https://www.breathingmatters.co.uk/latest-research-news/development-of-a-diagnostic-and-prognostic-breath-test-for-ipf/