Some of you may remember in September I shared my family’s story in order to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis. Here’s a quick recap and update.

My dad was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in August 2018. The outcome of the diagnosis was there in black and white: my dad’s life expectancy was two to five years. As I’m sure you can imagine, we were all distraught. We weren’t really sure of all the signs of Pulmonary Fibrosis, nor the history of it. It is quite an unknown disease which many people aren’t knowledgeable of.

Pulmonary Fibrosis affects 70,000 people in the UK. It’s a lung disease which progressively sees your lungs scar and become stiff, leading to low oxygen levels in the blood. There is currently no cure for Pulmonary Fibrosis and approximately 8,000 people die from the disease per year.

It’s with a heavy heart that I write that after a hard-fought battle, my dad passed away peacefully with family around him on 14 February 2023. Words cannot describe the man he was. I will be forever grateful for the time and memories we shared together. I love you, dad.

I want to continue to raise awareness of Pulmonary Fibrosis. Awareness of the disease is currently so low and often people haven't heard of it, nor do they understand the severity.

Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis have been brilliant and the charity does so much to get the message out there. We are really grateful for the support the charity has given us over the past few years and we want to spread the word to ensure they can help other families affected.

Dad’s final wishes were to have the below petition reach 100,000 signatures. I would be grateful to everyone who can sign and share the petition which is to increase funding for the treatment for this terminal disease and help raise awareness for past and present sufferers.

My partner Isla is running the Paris marathon for Action for Pulmonary fibrosis in his honour, if anyone would like to make a donation the link is also below, thank you!

I just want to thank the club, players, staff and the fans for giving me and my family every bit of support over the past few years. My family and I are truly grateful.

Thank you

Daz

DONATE TO ISLA'S PARIS MARATHON FUNDRAISER

SIGN THE PETITION

Help the Atkins family raise awareness of Pulmonary Fibrosis

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