‘CF is not known enough in the world, and it's certainly not known in motorsport, so I’ll keep working hard to raise awareness.’

My CF journey 

Jack: I’m 17, I’m a race kart driver, and I live in Durham. I just completed a sports coaching course and I’m going to start an electrician course in September. 

Rachel: We found out that Jack had cystic fibrosis (CF) by the heel prick test when he was three weeks old. Jack has an older sister and no one else in our family has CF - as you can imagine it was a complete shock. I remember the health visitor said, “We think he has a condition called cystic fibrosis, you've got to go to the hospital. Don't Google it, don't read about it, just go to the hospital.” They told us on Friday, so we had the weekend to try to process the news and then went to the hospital on Monday.

Jack: Growing up with CF had its challenges, there were things that I wasn't allowed to do because of my CF – because I might become ill. At school, I had really good people around me and they didn't care about my CF and treated me like everyone else. But there were residential school trips that I wasn’t allowed to go on because it would have been difficult to take my medication - that was hard, because as a kid everyone wants to experience those trips. 

Rachel:  What really helped us was the support from the hospital – amazingly we still have the same nurse, so she’s been with us for 17 years. We’ve also had a lot of family support. My mum's a nurse and we're very proactive people. We spent the first year a little bit down about Jack’s diagnosis but then realised that we can't change this. This is what it is, and we're going to make the best of what we've got.

My Dad is very supportive too. He ran the Great North Run for the Trust and that's when we became more involved with the Trust. Since then, Jack and I have both run the Great North Run too. My brother-in-law did a triathlon, and we’ve done other events as well. We’ve always contacted the Trust for advice when we need it, so it was a great way to give something back.

My Health

Jack: I have regular contact with my physio at the hospital, I go to the gym daily, and I go race karting twice a week. That is my routine at the moment, but if I become unwell, I jump straight onto the chest physio. I’m currently on Kaftrio,but I believe at my next clinic appointment I’m going to try the new modulator, Alyftrek.

Rachel: Through hard work and determination, Jack has been quite a well child. His consultant truly believes that it's down to the regular sports that he does. But we had a few periods when Jack had Pseudomonas, we've had two big hospital admissions. He usually has issues with his tummy rather than his chest and he gets really bad hay fever. 

Thinking back on Jack’s health, he’s had three lots of IVs, which is not bad at all. That’s what pushes him to pursue his dreams because there are some very unwell children with CF who might not be able to do such a physical sport.

My love for race karting

Jack: When I was younger, my dad used to do car racing, so I was brought up around the motorsport world. When I was seven, he surprised me with a go-kart. I've been karting ever since, and I’ve been in the leads in the top professional races.

Mostly, I enjoy the buzz and adrenaline rush when I’m driving around the track – it’s just an amazing feeling. It’s great to do something that I really enjoy. I feel very proud to have received an Outstanding Achievement Award at a championship, and I’m looking forward to competing at more events this year. 

Race karting is a very physical sport, so I work hard to keep myself well. I make sure to rest between races - I also try to sleep between races to give my body a break. There have been times when I’ve been physically sick on the track, and sometimes the training is intense and demanding on my body, but it’s what I love doing. I’m grateful that my health has been good enough for me to keep going.

Rachel: Jack is currently competing in the British Kart Championships, which is the pinnacle of karting motorsport in the UK. It's where people like Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton all started. He's doing the same things that they did. What Jack is achieving now with his condition and his family budget - his achievements are unreal.

There's nobody else with CF in this country (that we are aware of) racing at this standard. As a parent, I know that it’s important to do what the doctors say to keep Jack healthy. We hope that he’ll continue to be successful and go all the way to the top.

Jack: There's so many things that go into my race weekend that people don't see – the extra work I have to put in because of my cystic fibrosis. CF is not known enough in the world, and it's certainly not known in motorsport, so I’ll keep working hard to raise awareness.  

I'm at college now, but I would really like to show everyone around the world that you can do anything - even if you’ve got a disability or a health condition. In the future, it would be great to see more people who have CF get into sports.

I also want to take my race karting career to the professional level. But along the way, I’m going to continue to talk about cystic fibrosis and raise awareness of the condition.