“My wonderful husband John was hugely talented and top of his game in the world of creative advertising. Faced with a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis at age 63, he decided to pack as much fun into his life with his family – we lived a lifetime in a couple of years.
Sadly John died before he could see the end of the work he began on this hard-hitting campaign by Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis to mark PF Awareness month. It’s a touching tribute to John that his work colleagues from the UK and USA joined forces to finish it for him in his memory.”
Delith, 67, shares her experiences PF and working with APF
“The first PF symptom John experienced was becoming breathless when walking up an incline. We were shocked at the diagnosis in 2019 - his father died of the same disease in 1990, and we were ill-prepared to learn that John's PF was genetically inherited. In the summer of 2021, his condition worsened, and he was prescribed anti-fibrotic medication. This worked well initially but by the end of the year, he was referred to the lung transplant team. Tragically he was not a suitable candidate. His condition gradually worsened and he died at the end of 2023.
We want to do all that we can to prevent other families having to deal with the heartbreak that we have experienced over the past four years.
John and I were passionate about supporting the work of APF while he was alive and we raised £30,000 towards APF’s research. Now my two sons and myself will carry on with the fundraising John and I started last year. For us as a family, research into the causes - particularly of familial PF is vital - so better treatments, preventions and one day even a cure might be found.
A short while before he died, John started to work with some very talented and generous colleagues on producing this hard-hitting campaign. He wanted people to understand what it feels like to have PF. I can only imagine how incredibly proud he would be to see it today."
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