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Faye Disley, an inspirational fire fighter from Merseyside, in support of FMA UK
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- Category: General Information
- Published on Friday, 13 October 2017 13:55
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Faye who is a fire fighter from Aintree, Merseyside, is doing a number of fundraising challenges to raise vital funds for Fibromyalgia Action UK, because her mum lives with fibromyalgia. She is also raising money for The Fire Fighters Charity. Faye, who has been taking part in a number of fundraising activities over the course of a year, used the treadmill challenge as a training exercise before she takes part in the New York Marathon on Sunday, November 5 to raise even more funds for Fibromyalgia Action UK and the Fire Fighters Charity.
Faye told us: “I’m hoping as many people as possible will continue to support me and raise awareness of Fibromyalgia Action UK and The Fire Fighters Charity whilst helping me raise as much money as possible for two wonderful causes by donating money, visiting my justgiving pages or textgiving. My dream is to raise around £2,000 for the two charities as both are close to my heart and provide valuable services to people all across the UK.’’
To sponsor Faye https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/faye-disley-1
‘’Along with the previous fundraising efforts the treadmill challenge was a success in the fact that it was the culmination of 60+ hours volunteered by crews, other fire service personnel, non fire service volunteers, myself and members of the Sainsbury’s staff all resulting in £770 raised. I also managed to hit my running target of 20 miles completed under 4 hours.
Last weekend I completed the Chester metric marathon - 16.1 miles in 2 hours 47 minutes. It was a great event with around 3000 people running the marathon and 1000 the metric, the course had a few hills luckily for me on the day I had a gruelling but injury free race.
Next is the car wash at Sainsbury's on the 21st which will be similar to the treadmill challenge with a target of £700. After that it is a couple more training runs and the main event - NY marathon November 5th!
Then I can say goodbye to the 8 months of blisters, chaffing, cramps, painful joints + muscles followed by painful massages, fatigue, headaches and early morning + late nights. Seeing it like this makes me appreciate my health as I can choose to push my body and mind and it responds and adapts, it is something that I am surprised and in awe of. In contrast I can only partially imagine the daily battles had when living with Fibromyalgia with no end in sight and no choice to how your body will respond and the toll it takes, that takes real strength and determination.
What I would like to add is that all of the fundraising has only been achievable with lots of good will, deep pockets and a team effort, it’s amazing really!
Over 8 – 12 months I will have:
- Baked 300+ biscuits and cakes,
- 60+ hours of baking and decorating,
- Consumed approximately 225 litres of water,
- Ran 420 miles – equivalent to Liverpool to London and back,
- Completed 75 hours of training,
- Consumed approximately 40 energy gels/ products,
- 2 days’ worth of stretching,
- Received approximately 18 hours of massage, physio, yoga,
- Listened to approximately 37 hours of music,
- On average around £112 per month spent on treatments, garments, product, race fees. The equivalent of £3.73 per day,
- 300+ fundraising email, phone calls and conversations,
- £1200 raised so far with a target of £2000+ :-)
My Mum was diagnosed in 2008 but started with symptoms 2004. She was medically retired and is turning 65 next year. Those close to her have learned to pick up on how she is feeling by her voice, skin if it is grey, her speech and the shakes as she does try to hide how she feels and doesn't want sympathy or be a burden. It can be frustrating for her when she meets people who can be flippant with their understanding of the condition. I say it is an opportunity to educate one person at a time but it must be hard to repeat the same conversation to people.
When she went into hospital a couple of years ago for a knee replacement she explained to the staff that she needed to take her medication (16 tablets) throughout with no break but instead they took the medication and only gave it back when she was discharged at which point the levels in her system had dropped and she suffered whilst starting to take them again. She manages the condition through trial and error over the years from pacing activities to being honest and not keeping it to herself.’’
Support Faye’s efforts by donating through her JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/faye-disley-1