7 August 2009

Another marathon fundraising effort from Colleen

Swimming the entire lengths of Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel is something that most folk won’t manage in a lifetime but Dundee woman Colleen Blair aims to achieve the gruelling feat in a single day in aid of research into painful and incurable skin diseases.

Colleen (31) starts her marathon swim at Killin this Saturday when she takes on the 15-mile Loch Tay. Her mother Irene will meet her at the finish of that course with some hot soup around 10 hours later, and will drive her to the start of the 9.5-mile Loch Rannoch which she will swim overnight.

Irene will once more meet her daughter and transport her to Loch Tummel and the start of the 7-mile final leg of her incredible journey. She hopes to finish the swim at the dam on Loch Tummel by 8am on Sunday.

Colleen hopes to raise thousands of pounds for research being carried out at the University of Dundee. While most people couldn’t even contemplate such a challenge, daunting feats of endurance in the water are nothing new for Colleen, who last year swam the 23-mile North Channel between Ireland and Scotland for charity.

Now Colleen, a duty leisure manager with Perth & Kinross Leisure, is taking on another tough task in aid of PC Project UK.

The charity hopes to develop and deliver treatments for the painful skin blistering disorder pachyonychia congenita (PC) and the closely related condition epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS).

Irene works as a health and safety co-ordinator in the College of Life Sciences at the University, where Professor Irwin McLean heads an international team of investigators researching these conditions, and Colleen has had the opportunity to see the work they carry out.

“This is obviously a very good cause and it’s a charity that isn’t so well known so I’m delighted to be doing my bit,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge and the swimming should be okay, but I’ll just have to wait and see about that on the day.

“This swim is different to last year as although there’s a bit of a rest between each leg, that can be a bad thing as the arms can seize up. Although the North Channel obviously makes for difficult swimming conditions, this one brings with it its own problems. Loch Rannoch, for example, can be quite choppy and it might be difficult if I’m swimming against the wind.”

PC and EBS affect children from early infancy, causing very painful skin blistering and skin thickening, which lasts throughout their lifetime. Collectively, these highly debilitating skin diseases affect about 5000 people in the UK and about half a million people worldwide.

The causative genes for PC and EBS were discovered by genetics researchers at the University, who are now leading international efforts to cure these devastating diseases. Dundee is also the UK centre for diagnosis of EBS and the world centre for diagnosis of PC.

There are no effective therapies for PC or EBS currently but research being carried out in Dundee is closing in on new treatments for both conditions and other skin diseases. Developing and delivering this therapy is likely to cost several million pounds.

Professor McLean said he will be at Killin on Saturday to see Colleen off and expressed his admiration for her efforts.

“I am enormously grateful to Colleen Blair and her family for this incredible and daring fund-raising event,” he said. Our research is getting closer and closer to making treatments available for incurable and very painful skin disorders like PC and EB, that affect about 5000 people in the UK alone and many tens of thousands worldwide.

“Our work is entirely funded by charitable donations and in this current economic climate, funding is increasingly scarce, so events like this give the patients and their families, as well as all of us in the lab, a fantastic boost. I wish Colleen luck for a successful and safe swim of the three lochs this weekend.”

Colleen was only the ninth person ever to complete the North Channel swim, which covers a distance of 23 miles across some of the most difficult waters in the world.
She completed it in 15 hours, and her efforts were named 'Swim Of The Year' by the British Long Distance Swimming Association.

Anyone who wishes to sponsor Colleen or make a donation, can do so by visiting the PC Project Uk website at www.pcprojectuk.org.uk.
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For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk