Marathon for Silicosis
Donation protected
Hi my name is Phil Beckett and I'm 35 years old. A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with silicosis from working as a stonemason for 15 years.
In the last 18 months hundreds of stonemasons have been screened with the majority of them also receiving this horrible diagnosis.
Silicosis is an untreatable, rapidly progressing lung disease caused by the inhalation of fine particulate silica, which lodges in the deep pockets of the lungs and cannot be removed. The body's defences recognise these tiny particles as foreign and produce an inflammatory response resulting in progressive scarring and fibrosis of the lungs until your lung function is so low that you require a transplant.
Guys as young as 22 have received this diagnosis recently, and we are all struggling to accept that this disease will dramatically shorten our life expectancy as, at this stage, there is absolutely no treatment for silicosis. No way to slow the progression of the disease or stop the body from developing this scarring and fibrosis that will gradually take over our lungs.
Research and funding is desperately needed to find a treatment option in order to give hope to everybody affected. Hope for a future with our young families and wives and the chance to live a full life.
To raise funding and awareness I will be running the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July 2020 and I am asking you all to back me and donate what you can.
Not only will the training for this event assist my lung capacity, but I aim to use this event as a tool to raise awareness, spread the word about silicosis and donate every cent I earn along the way to The Common Good, an organisation leading the way into silicosis research and treatment options.
Please get behind me, spread the word, share the link and let's beat silicosis together.
In the last 18 months hundreds of stonemasons have been screened with the majority of them also receiving this horrible diagnosis.
Silicosis is an untreatable, rapidly progressing lung disease caused by the inhalation of fine particulate silica, which lodges in the deep pockets of the lungs and cannot be removed. The body's defences recognise these tiny particles as foreign and produce an inflammatory response resulting in progressive scarring and fibrosis of the lungs until your lung function is so low that you require a transplant.
Guys as young as 22 have received this diagnosis recently, and we are all struggling to accept that this disease will dramatically shorten our life expectancy as, at this stage, there is absolutely no treatment for silicosis. No way to slow the progression of the disease or stop the body from developing this scarring and fibrosis that will gradually take over our lungs.
Research and funding is desperately needed to find a treatment option in order to give hope to everybody affected. Hope for a future with our young families and wives and the chance to live a full life.
To raise funding and awareness I will be running the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July 2020 and I am asking you all to back me and donate what you can.
Not only will the training for this event assist my lung capacity, but I aim to use this event as a tool to raise awareness, spread the word about silicosis and donate every cent I earn along the way to The Common Good, an organisation leading the way into silicosis research and treatment options.
Please get behind me, spread the word, share the link and let's beat silicosis together.
Organizer
Phil Beckett
Organizer
Southern Lamington QLD
