Former Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue watch manager Michael Culff helps raise £3,800 for Royal Papworth Hospital following lung transplant

A former fire service watch manager cycled 208 miles in a bid to raise thousands for the hospital that carried out his double lung transplant.

Michael Culff, a 51-year-old from Deeping St James, joined two other transplant recipients as well as Dr Jas Parmar, Dr Steve Pettit, Giuseppe Aresu and Marius Berman for a 208-mile bike trip and raised £3,885 for the Royal Papworth Hospital Charity, based in Cambridge.

The journey began at the hospital on Sunday, March 3 and ended in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, on Wednesday, March 6 in time for the start of the British Transplantation Society (BTS) Annual Congress.

Michael, a former watch manager for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease where there is scarring of the lungs making it difficult to breathe, in 2017.

His condition got so bad that he was forced to retire during 2019 and he was eventually added to the transplant list in February 2022 so he could receive new lungs.

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The bikers wanted to show how successful transplants are while raising awareness of the importance of organ donation.

“My reasons for participation are that I need to make the very most of the opportunities that transplant has offered me and the incredible inclusiveness that the Royal Papworth team helps me feel,” said Michael.

“I feel so grateful and excited that I have been given a second chance of not just surviving but actually living and truly appreciating the miracle that transplantation and donating offer.

“If I can help in some small way to highlight the impact and importance of donating organs to people who were, are, or will be in my position, then I am forever obliged to do so in my opinion.”

Donations can be made here.

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