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2004 November 1 - Dad Walks Hadrian's Wall For Transplant Son

NEWS RELEASE

1 November 2004

DAD WALKS HADRIAN’S WALL FOR TRANSPLANT SON

Carlisle father Steve Salkeld and four former colleagues have raised £1000 by walking approximately 25 miles along Hadrian’s Wall for the charity that helped his family after his son had to have a life-saving liver transplant.

The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) is a unique national charity that fights childhood liver diseases through funding pioneering research and educating healthcare professionals and the general public.  It provides professional, emotional support to families affected and is the only organisation of its kind in the UK.

Steve’s son Matthew, aged 8, was born with a rare liver condition called biliary atresia, which causes the bile ducts to become progressively blocked, leading to irreversible liver damage.  In February 1997, at just 15 months old, Matthew had to have a life-saving liver transplant.

Steve and his previous workmates from Cavaghan and Gray Group Ltd in Carlisle    walked 25 miles between Birdoswald and Chester in ten hours.  Steve explains: “I wanted to do something to raise money for CLDF and this seemed like an appropriate challenge.  When I think back to Matthew’s diagnosis and transplant nearly eight years ago, I remember how alone we felt and how much we appreciated being introduced to CLDF.  The initial literature that we were given seemed really out of date; from reading it we thought it was the end of the road for our little boy.  It was only when we were put in touch with CLDF and received their up-to-date literature that we began to feel that there was hope.”

He continues: “The information and support we have received from CLDF has been invaluable.  When your world is crumbling around you and you think nobody else is in the same situation as you it is an immense comfort to discover that there are other people out there dealing with a similar thing.”

Steve’s wife Susanna also raised £400 for the Foundation through asking friends and family to buy Christmas products through a home shopping catalogue.

Catherine Arkley, chief executive of CLDF, said: “I’m pleased to hear how Steve and his family have benefited from CLDF’s support and literature.  The Foundation believes that knowledge empowers the family and the child, which is why we aim to provide accurate, honest and up to date information.  We also believe that effective research is the key to providing a future for children and young people with liver disease.  For example, today children like Matthew with biliary atresia are alive thanks, amongst other things, to CLDF’s significant efforts funding cutting edge research projects.  Although we have come a long way in terms of research, with at least two children a day being diagnosed with liver disease there is still a lot of work to be done.”

If you would like more information about the work of CLDF and childhood liver disease please call 0121 212 3839, e-mail info@childliverdisease.org or visit www.childliverdisease.org

ENDS

For more information on this story please contact Rebecca O’Connor on 0121 212 6012 or e-mail rebeccaOC@childliverdisease.org