It’s more than 450 miles! But, for the second time, Dr Dan Beckett got into the saddle to cycle to London to help raise awareness of Sepsis, a life-threatening condition that kills thousands of people in Britain every year.
Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, claims 37,000 lives annually, of which almost 3,000 are in Scotland. It is an unpredictable condition which can strike at any time without warning and kills more people in the UK than bowel, prostate and breast cancers combined. Rapid diagnosis and treatment are critical to survival.
Dr Beckett, a Consultant Acute Physician at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, explained: “My Uncle Dave narrowly survived sepsis, having been made aware of the condition as a result of the first Cycle4Sepsis. I work in acute medicine, so I have witnessed how rapidly the illness can take hold.
“It was a long stretch, but we trained to prepare us for the 500 mile cycle from Scotland to London, stopping off along the route in Edinburgh, Melrose, Carlisle, Skipton, Chesterfield, Leicester, Northampton, Watford and Uxbridge, to raise awareness and talk about our experiences.
“During the trip we met teams from four corners of the UK and although our journey was long and hard work at times, it was nothing compared to the ordeal faced by bereaved families and sepsis survivors.”
The Cycle4Sepsis teams convened to join Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt at a reception hosted in the Houses of Parliament by Cheryl Gillan MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sepsis.
