A fight for change and compassion for the human spirit is reason enough to rally behind lung disease.
“If we can stop even just one family from having to see their loved one struggling to breathe and struggling to do anything they used to enjoy – that would be a huge reward for us.”
Emma’s Mum, Gloria “Glorious” Christine Argent, lost her life to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) in June of 2018. Now, the Argent family tribe are uniting in memory of the beloved Wife, Mother and Grandmother, rallying to take on the HBF Run for a Reason and raise funds for vital research into lung disease.
“We felt absolutely helpless during her fight, knowing there wasn’t anything we could do to make her feel better. She was such a determined and inspirational person, which is why it’s important for us to honour her memory by doing something positive – and inevitably help others in the same boat,” Emma said.
IPF is considered a mystery lung disease because its cause remains unknown. It leads to scarring and thickening of tissue in the lungs, making it increasingly difficult for oxygen to transfer into the bloodstream. The current survival rate of IPF is as low as some of the most devasting cancers.
“Mum’s condition progressed quite rapidly, and as she was having trouble breathing it meant she had to stop work only a month after her diagnosis and her Wife, Sue, became her full-time carer as she couldn’t do anything herself,” Emma said.
More than ever, this disease needs the attention of the community and government to invest in more research.
“We know that research leads to better outcomes and we want nothing more than to see treatment and hopefully even one day a cure for this disease, so other families can spend more time with their loved ones and don’t have to go what we have been through,” Emma said.
Together, the nine of them will take on the challenge in May for a cause not only close to their hearts, but the reason that they are all missing a piece of it.
Rally behind the Argent Family and show your support. Contact fundraising@lungfoundation.com.au for details on how you can donate to their cause.