Putting their best feet forward

The remarkable runners who have been clocking up the miles for our charity

WELL DONE!

After obtaining ballot places, these runners pounded the pavements of the capital in the TCS London Marathon

Manuel completedMontero the course in spite of a knee injury, in support of his wife Stella.

Chris Spindler was joined by wife Sam for a well-earned beer at the finish line. The event bagged him 26.2 miles towards his goal of running 666 before the end of the year.

Sophie Morris had her friend Maddy in her thoughts all the way around.

Karen Doak used the eventtoprepareforher35-day runningchallenge (seepage52formoredetails!)

Graham Hewitt ran in support of his wife Jennifer. He is pictured with her in hospital in Sheffield, just 12 hours after completing the race in London.

After repeatedly being told he had asthma, 27-year-old Tom Packham was finally diagnosed with PH last year. This is his story of fighting for the right care, and trying to be the best dad and husband that he can.

My symptoms started in August 2021, out of nowhere. I was working in Abu Dhabi, and I was becoming breathless even when I wasn’t doing anything. Because it’s so hot in the Middle East, I put it down to the humidity and didn’t think much more of it.

But when I returned to the UK a few months later, the breathlessness got worse, and it got to the point where I couldn’t walk more than 100 metres. I went to my GP, who diagnosed asthma and prescribed an inhaler.

There was a very slight improvement because the inhaler helped open up my airways, but of course it made no real difference. I knew for a fact it wasn’t asthma. It just didn’t sit right me with at all.

A couple of months later I blacked out whilst walking up the stairs and was taken to hospital as an emergency. Because I had gastroenteritis (a stomach virus) at the time, the medics put everything down to that and I was sent home after a few hours.

Things then started to get really bad. I couldn’t walk more than ten metres outside my house without feeling dizzy, and although I kept on working, it was a real struggle. My job involved heavy lifting and ladders, and I was almost passing out when I climbed down from them. I would get palpitations and start sweating and feeling clammy. It was like a heart attack.

I would repeatedly break down after getting home from work because it was terrifying, and so emotionally draining too. It got to the point where I thought ‘I’m not going to live until next year’. I just thought, ‘I’m not going to survive’.

I kept having appointments with my doctor to tell them it wasn’t getting better, but it didn’t make a difference. The inhalers obviously weren’t helping, and it was really frustrating. I was told that perhaps I wasn’t using the inhaler properly, and that’s the way it went for almost a year.

Finally getting answers

The diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension eventually came in November 2022. After a particularly frightening episode at work, when I couldn’t breathe, my wife Hannah insisted we went back to the doctors. I told them I didn’t think I would be alive next year, and luckily they agreed to me having an echocardiogram (ECG) at the surgery the very next day.

After checking the results, I was told to get to a hospital straight away and I spent nine hours in the A&E department in Blackpool. They did all sorts of tests, and I was asked constantly whether I had been taking cocaine or other drugs. They said my heart was inflated and they didn’t know why.

I stayed in hospital for a further two weeks and I am grateful that one of the doctors suspected something different and decided to do a right heart catheter test, which confirmed idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. I Googled it, and life turned upside down.

I got transferred to the specialist centre in Sheffield, where I started treatment. I’ve gone through different therapies to find what works best, and it’s really made a difference.

Living with pulmonary hypertension

I’ve been trying to learn more about the condition over the last few months, but I’m still struggling with it all to be honest. I always say that if it was something I did that caused the PH then I could accept it, but because it’s so rare and it has randomly happened, I can’t really get my head around it. nutrition feature to help you make the most of life

Many of my friends still don’t understand PH because I’ve always been fit and never struggled with anything, then all of a sudden I was on death’s door.

I remember a family member saying, “I can’t see anything wrong with you, so I don’t understand how it’s this bad” – and that’s the problem.

I’ve got two children, Lucas who is seven and Amelia who is four, and I try and play with them as much as I can. My treatment means I don’t get as breathless as I used to, but even on good days I get tired.

I don’t want my kids to go through life without a proper father there. I want to do as much as I can and keep everything ‘normal’, as it was before.

Without them and my wife being there to support me, I don’t know what I would have done to be honest. Everything that I’m doing now is for my family.

When I look back on how long it took to get my diagnosis, I think it’s awful. If I had to sum up the last couple of years, I’d use the words ‘emotional’ and ‘disastrous’. I’ve not had a good time, that’s for sure.

In terms of the future, I’m feeling optimistic, but uncertain too, because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have had a transplant consultation, but at the moment I’m too well to be considered for one. I do count myself lucky that I’m in a decent situation right now.