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More than 20 staff, alumni and friends will walk the full Pennine Way (with an extra Edale to Sheffield leg) covering 286 miles in 15 days. On the final day the Staff Challenge will see individuals and teams from the University walk from Edale to Sheffield covering 18 miles. 

Through the Big Walk we are raising funds for lung disease research at the University of Sheffield, specifically our leading research in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension - a life–threatening condition affecting the lungs and the right side of the heart.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a rare but devastating condition. Sadly, most of the 500 or so patients diagnosed annually in the UK die from progressive heart failure within 5 years. This is a worse prognosis than most cancers, and although medical therapies can alleviate symptoms and, at best, slow progression, there is currently no cure for PAH.

PAH begins when tiny arteries in the lungs become narrowed or blocked. This puts an enormous strain on the heart as it works harder to pump blood through the lungs. PAH is a very serious condition that becomes progressively worse, causing the heart muscle to weaken and eventually fail.

It is this strain on the heart and decrease in the blood through the lungs that causes the majority of symptoms such as breathlessness, fainting, racing pulse and weakness which can significantly affect quality of life. As the disease worsens it becomes difficult for individuals to carry out even normal activities. Ultimately, the disease is fatal without a lung transplant.

Sheffield is a major international centre for the diagnosis, treatment and research of this condition. We are already making exciting discoveries that we hope will lead to better treatments and ultimately defeat this condition. The money we raise from this event will accelerate our research and help us to develop and test new treatments and make them available for patients as quickly as possible.

The people doing the whole of the Pennine Way over 14 consecutive days covering the  267 miles from Kirk Yetholm just inside the Scottish border to Edale, in the  Derbyshire Peak District, passing through the Northumberland National Park  the length of the Yorkshire Dales. The path runs along "backbone of England” and then when we get to Edale we’ll be joined by hundred’s of Sheffield University folk to walk home on our 15th day with the Staff Challenge.

Thank you for supporting the Big Walk, together we can make a real difference to the lives of people with pulmonary arterial hypertension

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