On the outside I look like any other healthy child but on the inside it’s a different story



Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited disease and 1 in 25 of us carries the gene. My Mum and Dad found out they both had the gene when I was poorly as a baby. I didn’t gain weight, kept getting chest infections and was repeatedly sick. Eventually the doctors worked out I had CF.
The disease attacks the body’s vital organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, by literally clogging them with thick sticky mucus that makes it difficult to breathe and digest food. Average life expectancy is 31. At present there is no cure and 3 young lives are lost each week in the UK to the effects of CF.



My day starts with 6 teaspoons of the dreaded foul tasting antibiotics, followed by physiotherapy, then more medicine and then I can have breakfast. This happens again in the evening and I have medicine throughout the day whenever I eat or drink. I often get coughs and colds and then I need more medicine, injections and physio and have to stay in hospital. I am really well at the moment and I love swimming, running, jumping and bouncing which I do all the time to keep my lungs healthy. I am very lucky as most people with CF are not so well. I am the healthiest I can ever be today and over time my health will start to deteriorate but you could help change that!



On the 13th April 2008 my Mum (Wendy) and her friends Jane Fewkes and Phil James will be running the Flora London Marathon to raise £15,000 for the CF trust. This money will help fund the gene therapy research that is so vital for CF sufferes. Scientists are close to finding an effective gene therapy which will halt the lung damage that kills so many young people in this country. For me and all those who have CF it will be the gift of life and can’t come soon enough. Please support my Mum, Jane and Phil running for those who can’t and be part of history in finding a cure for CF. Please dig deep and sponsor me online at www.justgiving.com/benjof

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cystic Fibrosis Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

You can also send an email pledge to benji@benjof.com

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page