Speaker Phil Godfrey - APS Support UK

President John Spittal welcomed guests John Greening (Elthorne & Hillingdon Rotary, Middlesex) and Tim Cowling (Faringdon & District Rotary, West London) before introducing the speaker for the evening, Phil Godfrey.

Phil, a Rotarian from Solihull, West Midlands, is approaching the conclusion of an epic round-Britain journey to raise awareness of and funds for APS.

He explained that APS is a fairly common but extremely debilitating condition Antiphospholipid Syndrome, more usually known as “blood thickening”. The condition affects the body’s auto-immune system and can bring on strokes, heart attacks blood clotting and other problems.

Pregnant women are particularly at risk as APS can cause miscarriages and stillbirths. Treatment can be successful with the use of blood-thinning drugs, perhaps even with the use of aspirin.

Phil’s wife, Christine, had suffered from APS and passed away in 2015. Ten years before that she had been mis-diagnosed as having MS and subsequently missing out on the simple treatments which would have eased, and possibly cured, APS.

In her memory, Phil set out in March 2017 to walk the length of the Scilly Isles, return to the mainland to walk to the north of Scotland, then continue his mission on the Shetland Islands.

However, a series of leg injuries interrupted his progress over many months and with some regret he had to terminate the walking programme and undergo knee surgery.

Instead, he planned and has almost completed 7700 miles all over the UK utilising 150 train journeys. He was pleased to point out that with the exception of 10 journeys, all had been on time, encouraging his admiration for the UK rail system!

Thus far, Phil has raised £68,000 which has already been used to fund a training and learning course on APS for 300 GPs. That sum should increase when Phil finishes his mission in December this year.

Following his stopover in St Andrews, Phil will make a further trip south, then return to North Berwick in a couple of weeks’ time.

In her vote of thanks, Club member Fiona Rogers spoke for most of those present in stating that APS was a condition unknown to most people. Phil’s address had most definitely achieved his aim of raising awareness.