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Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) are Scotland’s largest health charity working to help people with chest, heart and stroke conditions live life to the full.

Some smarty pants came up with the strap line no life half lived and that’s exactly what CHSS set out to do, whether it’s with the help of their amazing nurses, support workers or volunteers like me.

Let me introduce you to my friend Jim. He was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Idiopathic means that the cause is not known. Pulmonary fibrosis means that the lung tissue stops being spongy, becomes scarred and reduces the capacity of the lungs. It’s incurable.

The diagnosis was made relatively early allowing Jim to begin treatment to slow the progress of the condition.

Although IPF is a terrible disease, Jim embodied the CHSS strapline and refused to let it stop him living a full or active life. He continued his love of sport participating in lawn and indoor bowling. He carried on travelling, dancing, recording programmes for hospital and community radio, fundraising, planning and accomplishing things he never expected to.

He became a member of Grampian Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group which is supported by CHSS. 

Consequently he travelled to CHSS headquarters in Edinburgh regularly to meet with other people involved in peer support groups across Scotland. This ticked another couple of boxes as far as Jim was concerned, he loved driving and was rather good at talking.

The condition progressed and Jim began to use oxygen. While this may have slowed him down a little, he was still able to get out and about using a portable oxygen concentrator. 

Keen to raise awareness in any way possible, he was never averse to people asking questions about the concentrator - even if it meant the shopping was delayed!

Coronavirus arrived and being clinically vulnerable Jim was advised to shield. Home oxygen therapy began playing a bigger part in his life although like the rest of us he still managed to remain active in online meetings.

As CHSS played such a big part in Jim’s life I feel it’s entirely appropriate to challenge myself and embrace the #NoLifeHalfLived ethos.

Thanks for taking the time to ready my story.

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