Hello,

 

Thanks for visiting my Just Giving page.

 

To everyone who has donated to help me raise the amazing total of £1487.50 for the Run to the Beat Half Marathon -Thank you so much. Since this was so successful I have now decided to extend the challenge and am now running the London Marathon in April 2010.

 

So I have decided to increase the amount I would like to raise, for the two races combined to £3000. For me, race-wise that will be a 10k (6 mile), 13.3 mile and 26.6 mile race in the period of 10 months, so you never know I might get another one in before 12 months is up! It seems really cheeky after such generosity from every one who has donated so far to ask for more, but reaching this new goal would be fantastic and mean more money to go to research for the cure for Cystic Fibrosis. So if you are able to please give generously, and please if you have not already read below for the reason that for me being able to run these races is such an amazing thing and why your help is neede to fight CF. Thank you.....

 

As many of you who know me will know. I have Cystic Fibrosis and in 2001 was lucky enough to have a double lung transplant.

 

Prior to having this operation I was reliant on having oxygen cylinders around the house and everywhere I  went because my lungs were so damaged from the mulitple infections attacking the lung tissue, that my lungs could not absorb enough oxygen from the air that I breathed in. This made me constantly breathless; even getting dressed was exhausting. I could hardly walk (let alone run) 20 yards without stopping to catch my breath. I was very thin because of the calories I was burning just trying to breath and had to have feeds through a tube to my stomach every night.

After waiting 5 years on the transplant register I was called to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield to have the operation. Now 8 years on I am living in London and feeling well enough to run a 26 mile race. Good eh?

Between June and October 2008 I came down with a, still undiagnosed, lung infection, which caused me to be very ill. Once again I was having to breath oxygen overnight, becoming very breathless and found I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs. It was a very scary and traumatic time, but due to the care of the Harefield Hospital’s transplant unit and the Kings College Hospital Cystic Fibrosis Unit, I am now better. It really reminded me of my time before the transplant and brought home to me the importance of not allowing myself to take for granted the transplant and the amazing effect this has had on my life.

People with CF not only have the boring day to day grind of constant, unpleasant physiotherapy; countless tablets, nebulisers and inhalers; breathlessness; stomach problems and, in many cases diabetes, but also the fear that actually, despite all this you may not have long to live.

In gratitude to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for the research that kept me alive long enough to be able to be given a lung transplant, and the research which means that babies that are now born with CF may, in their lifetime see a cure for this disease, I am running this distance to do a little something so that their research can continue so that people with CF have better and better life chances as has happened over my lifetime.

 

I would be very very grateful if you would support me.

 

Please have a look at this link http://www.cftrust.org.uk/research/researchwefund/

for information about the research being done to help people with Cystic Fibrosis.

You might also, I hope, be interested in the content of this link too   http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/how_to_become_a_donor/how_to_become_a_donor.jsp

Thank you very much for your support.

Sal.

 

ps...

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.