A conversation with a Friend- Phil Godfrey- Thursday 28 May @ 18.45 for 19.00

A conversation with a Friend- Phil Godfrey- Thursday 28 May @ 18.45 for 19.00

Phil Godfrey: APS

Other than increased neighbourliness and the recognition of the efforts of those working in the front-line, there have been few positive elements of the Covid-19 pandemic.  One unexpected benefit for the Club, linked to the need for meetings to be conducted by the now ever-present Zoom technology, is that distance is no longer an issue for speakers.  That was amply demonstrated on Thursday when Phil Godfrey from the Rotary Club of Solihull addressed the Club.

Phil has been a prolific speaker, visiting 153 Rotary Clubs to speak about the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), sometimes known as the “sticky blood” syndrome as it can cause blood to clot too quickly.  Phil explained that this is a rare disorder: signs and symptoms vary, but may include blood clots, miscarriage, chronic headaches, dementia and seizure.  Currently there is not a cure for APS; the goal of treatment is to prevent blood clots from forming and to keep existing clots from getting larger.  Because it is so rare, diagnosis is difficult: it can take as long as three years for the true cause of health problems to be confirmed. It is much more prevalent in women than men, often resulting in multiple miscarriages.

Phil emphasised the consequences of the syndrome not being diagnosed.  He described a number of cases, including those of two women who had suffered a sequence of miscarriages before APS was diagnosed.  When treated, they had had successful deliveries.  Phil, himself, had close personal experience of the devastating consequences of a failure to diagnose the syndrome.  As a result of this, he had decided to raise money to improve awareness of the syndrome, and to seek to alleviate consequential suffering.  His research suggested that some 37% of GPs were unaware of the syndrome.  Fundamental to his efforts, therefore, were to be steps aimed at ensuring that GPs were fully informed about the prevalence of APS. 

To raise the money to implement his goal, Phil planned to walk from the Scilly Isles to Shetland, a distance of 1,400 miles.  Despite his best endeavours his plans were frustrated by bad weather, cancellation of the flight from the Scilly Isles, and torn muscles.  Nothing daunted, Phil revised his plan and decided to use trains to travel far and wide across Britain.  Over the period 2018 to two weeks before the lockdown in March, Phil made 650 train and three plane journeys.  Arising from these trips, Phil raised the amazing sum of £125,000.  Part of this has been used to develop an e-learning module for GPs. He has given many talks; during one a woman realised that symptoms she was experiencing corresponded with APS, and subsequently she had been successfully treated. 

President Andrew Hilley said he was most grateful to Phil for his inspiring talk.  He praised his record of fund-raising; his commitment to increasing awareness of APS was most impressive.