"I’ve never allowed my CF to stop me from being adventurous and living a full life": Kieran's story

I'm Kieran, I'm 27, and currently working as a canine carer at a dogs home in Birmingham, though I will soon be joining the police force. 

Living with CF                 

I was a very sick baby and my mum was really concerned. She kept taking me to the hospital to find out what was wrong but I wasn’t diagnosed until my first birthday when they did the sweat test and confirmed that I have CF. 

I didn’t have many health challenges when I was younger, and I managed my CF as well as I could at that time. I took lots of medication and did lots of physiotherapy before and after school. Now I take Kaftrio and it has been an absolute game changer - my health is even better than before. I still have my off days like everyone else, and sometimes issues do still flare up, but mostly I feel really good and try my best to keep fit and stay active as often as I can. 

Fundraising and raising awareness of CF

I like being active and enjoy mountain climbing, hiking and raising awareness of CF at the same time. I’ve done some fundraising for the Trust in the past - from skydiving to abseiling, but the biggest challenge was when I climbed Kilimanjaro with my dad in 2018 and we managed to raise over £10,000.

In the past, I also completed an expedition to Mexico and climbed three volcanoes, which was another huge challenge and such an amazing feeling – I’ve never allowed my CF to stop me from being adventurous and living a full life. 

My advice to anyone thinking of taking on a fundraising challenge is that there’s so much you can do. I’ve also taken part in gaming events, football games and charity nights – so there’s really something for everyone. I’m planning a few more fundraising events for the Trust this year and I’d encourage everyone to give it a try and have a look at the events you can take part in. 

Taking on the London Marathon

I did a skydive when I was 16 and that’s where my passion for challenges began. I started looking into the London Marathon back then, but I didn’t commit as I wasn’t in the best shape mentally and physically at that time so I looked at doing different challenges instead. I’ve always loved the idea of completing a marathon but I put it off because I have never been a runner and hated the thought of it. But now we are here! 

Last year my friend and I got into running. We started slowly and took it easy, but surprisingly we really enjoyed it, so we both applied for this year's Birmingham Half Marathon, which is actually a week after the London Marathon. 

After we got our places, I decided to try my luck and enter the ballot to run the London Marathon for Team CF and I was shocked and excited when I got a place. I knew it was time to fully commit to my training and tell my friends and family the great news. 

They were also quite shocked because I’ve never run a marathon before but they were really supportive and proud that I’m going for it and can now tick it off my bucket list. 

Training for the Marathon

I started training late last year and in the beginning I would do a short run around the park and feel exhausted and out of breath. It was also hard to keep motivated, especially when it’s cold outside in the winter, but I've made a lot of progress - I’ve been building up my pace and going on different runs. I’m doing 10k runs and even completed a half marathon in the meantime, with 15 miles being my longest run to date so far and my plan is to keep consistent and focus on my strength training.

I’m feeling really positive about taking on this massive challenge because I like to push myself and try new things. I’ve never allowed my CF to stop me from taking on epic challenges and when the training gets tough, my biggest motivation will be the fact that I’m running for the Trust and raising funds for the CF community. I know this will keep me going and give me the strength I need to make it to the finish line!

You can support Kieran’s fundraising page here.