A DEVASTATED family have turned to music in a bid to raise awareness of a killer lung disease.
Richard Sainsbury, from Dalton , recently died from the little known idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Richard, 69, who worked at Cummins Turbo Technologies , had less than a year to live after he was diagnosed in 2012.
Now his widow Carol, daughters Dionne and Mandy and son Craig are doing their best to boost the profile of IPF and raise cash for lung research charity, Breathing Matters.
Meanwhile Mandy’s partner Bob Crolla, aka Sasquatch Bob has come up with his own way of pitching in.
Bob, bass player in Huddersfield’s own Black Sabbath tribute band Ozzbest, has recorded a charity single.
The song is a slightly tweaked cover version of Joe Bonamassa’s Happier Times.
Bob said: “I wanted to do something to help support research into IPF and also raise awareness.
“One of the problems with IPF is very little is known about it, and it is commonly misdiagnosed.
“Considering it kills as many people in the UK each year as leukaemia, more help is desperately needed to stop this disease and find a way to help people who have it.
“I was trying to think of something I could do as Dionne had been doing loads of fundraising.
“I’m not fit enough to do a sponsored walk or anything like that.
“I’m a musician. I don’t really have any other skills or talents and so it was only natural I’d do something music related to raise money.
“The song captures perfectly the need to remember someone for who they were, and the good times they had rather than the grim last days.
“It’s dedicated to those people who made our lives better just by being a part of them, and who are no longer with us.
“And it’s especially for Mandy’s dad who left a huge hole in so many people’s lives when he left.”
Carol said she was delighted with Bob’s efforts and called for greater awareness of the disease.
She said: “There’s no known treatment for IPD and no cure other than a double lung transplant.
“It’s often misdiagnosed as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and this is why we want to raise awareness.
“Not enough people know about it, even doctors and nurses.
“Survival with COPD can be 20 or 30 years but IPF is only up to four years.
“It’s an absolutely vile disease but they don’t know why people get it.
“It causes a scarring of the lungs which shrinks them, giving you less and less lung capacity.
“Richard couldn’t breathe at all near the end and he was on oxygen 24/7.”
The single can be downloaded from iTunes, Amazon, Play, Google Play and 7Digital or CDs can be ordered for £2.50 via www.sasquatchbob.com .
