July 15, 2024
Alec Steele, former Scotland international cricketer has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). After his diagnosis four years ago, following months of hard work with the support of the hospital, Alec was able to get back on the cricket pitch, playing with his oxygen tank strapped to his back. He still plays cricket to this day.
Alec's story is inspirational, and we are delighted to wish him warm congratulations as he has been rightly recognised for this with an MBE.
'I was absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List, on the 15 June 2024. The award was for Services to Cricket and to People with Interstitial Lung Disease.
I am particularly delighted that my great lifetime love of cricket and my determination at the age of 83 has allowed me to continue playing with an oxygen cylinder strapped to my back drawing attention to many cricketers and their friends in Scotland and further afield, that pulmonary fibrosis exists and is a dreadful illness - but with a positive attitude, people with the disease can still have a reasonably good quality of life.
I am also so pleased that much attention has been given to the vital work of the charity Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis which is doing so much to help sufferers with the illness and developing research programmes leading hopefully to securing a cure for the disease.'
Read Alec's top tips that help him live well with PF here: Personal story: Alec doesn't let IPF stop him from playing cricket – Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis (actionpf.org)