We are raising money for The MAP Vaccine - a possible cure for Crohns and a huge relief for all who suffer with this disease. My personal reasons for supporting this amazing research is outlined below
On the 27th July 2018 I'm going to have my hair shaved off. This is a huge thing for me because not only does my hair take years to grow but I have used it for 3 years to hide my hearing aid! My work support Luke is joining me but is adamant to save his beard and eyebrows! This being the case I think he needs to go completely bald. I will be having: Grade 1, 2, 3 or 4, Mohican or men's peaky blinders skin fade. As you donate please state your preference for my new barnet and I will go for the one with the most votes. Thank you for your support.
As many of you will know I have watched my boy struggle with stomach issues for most of his life. He was eventually diagnosed with Crohns a year ago. This put paid to any dream of an army career and has left him struggling to fully commit to any job without sickness and absence. Due to the immunosuppressants he nearly died at Christmas due a fungal infection entering his blood and causing sepsis. Thanks to our wonderful nhs and the staff at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston he lived to tell his tale. This shocked him into asking what he’d achieved in life and at the age of 21 decided to go travel for a year or two. He was due to fly to Thailand and onto Australia on 28th May but on the 21st was rushed to hospital, doubled over in agony and begging for a colostomy bag. A week of steroids and deemed unfit to fly he had to rethink and has now had surgery to remove 25cm of his Ileum. This will hopefully enable him to travel later in the year. I have to confess, I did not realise just how awful Crohns is until I had to barewitness to it. Pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss,exhaustion, anxiety and depression all play their part. Not being able to go out without knowing where you can run to in an emergency. Embarrassment and much much more. Currently this can be subdued with steroids, immunosuppressants (which can lead to other nasty illnesses) and surgery. The MAP Vaccine is in its second phase of human trials and could see a CURE to this awful disease and I for one, am extremely grateful to the professor and his team at Kings College London in good old Blighty!