I can't describe this better than how my dad has put it on his fundraising page:

"I was diagnosed with IPF two and a half years ago. I’d never heard of it. It’s a rare, progressive, incurable disease. The lungs scar relentlessly, becoming less and less efficient. Thus the body will become increasingly starved of oxygen. When I was diagnosed, the average time between diagnosis and death was three years.

So far for me, things haven’t been so bad. I take a drug which may slow up progress of the disease. I’m closely monitored at the Royal Brompton and take part in drug research trials there. The Brompton is a world leader in the diagnosis, management and treatment of lung disease. I’m bowled over by the brilliant (NHS) care I receive there. My lungs are worsening but, at the moment, only slowly. The Brompton medics describe me as an ‘outlier’ and now predict a slower decline than initially feared.

So a septuagenarian with diseased lungs attempting to run 13 miles seems a nicely defiant way of raising both awareness of IPF and extra cash for its research."

Here is a link to what IPF is: https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis-ipf. Though classified as rare, 6000 people in the UK are diagnosed with it.

Toby Maher who heads up Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis research at the Royal Brompton adds this: ‘IPF is a life-threatening disease that literally takes a person’s breath away. It’s fantastic that John is fighting the disease head on and in doing so is raising money for much needed research.’

Thanks,

Sarah


Sarah Westoby