August 14, 2024
Jenny share’s her experience and motivation for fundraising:
"At the end of 2019 my Dad was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It took almost 4 years for him to get a diagnosis as his GP knew nothing about the illness. Very little information was available to us and so we had no clue what lay ahead!
At the time there were only two drugs available which prolonged life. Only one of these was suitable for my Dad due to previous heart surgery and this sadly exacerbated his symptoms. He therefore couldn’t continue with the treatment and no further support could be offered.
Over a short period of time, he lost a lot of weight and breathing became more difficult. For a keen golfer this was particularly heartbreaking for him. By Christmas 2021 we realised that it would be his last. Over the next nine months his health declined rapidly, and he was on oxygen 24 hours a day. My dad was a proud and strong man who was absolutely determined that this wasn’t going to be the end for him. This is when we found Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis. Straight away we felt this was a website that was very different to the others we had read. It was very positive, supportive and helpful. The charity was able to give us much more information and support to as carers for Dad.
Dad was incredibly brave and strong throughout. Sadly he passed away in September 2022, 3 weeks before we welcomed our little boy who was named Christopher in his honour.
Since my Dad passed, many people have contacted me to talk about someone they have lost through the illness or who has recently been diagnosed. It was important to us to take on the challenge of raising as much money as possible for the charity to help them raise awareness and to carry out research that is so desperately needed. We wanted to help make a difference to those families who are going through the same experiences that we did."
Chris Turner & Family If you would like to do something amazing like Jenny and take on an Ultra Challenge for APF, please visit our Ultra Challenge page where you will find events all over the UK.