Harpenden pensioner on a mission to raise awareness of Vasculitis

Bob Dart,71, was living the high life having retired to Spain when he was struck by vasculitis, a disorder which destroys blood vessels by inflaming them.

Bob's condition is known as granulomatosis with polyangiitis - an extremely rare form of the disease which impacts just three in 100,000 people.

In March 2019, he began to feel unwell, having difficulty getting out of bed, before eventually being unable to stand up at all.

He was diagnosed in August 2019 and had to spend £8,000 hiring an ambulance to drive him back to the UK as he was unable to fly.

On life since, he says: "It's been so frustrating because nobody's heard of this illness and nobody seems cares about it.

"Although it's rare, it's still killing people."

He highlights the work of the Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation, a charity that supports people like Bob.

The charity was set up in the name of Lauren who died of undiagnosed granulomatosis with polyangiitis at the age of 15.

Using their materials, Bob is on a mission to raise awareness of the disease in Hertfordshire.

He said: "I continually find that GPs haven't heard of this condition which makes it an uphill battle.

"If you have the symptoms of this disease, you are very unlikely to be diagnosed by your GP,  which should be your first port of call. "

To combat this, he's travelled from surgery to surgery distributing a four-page brochure which he hopes will help raise awareness, saying that "If going round giving out the brochures helps saves just one life, I've done my job.".

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Neither St Albans nor Harpenden have hospitals with vasculitis clinics, so Bob regularly has to travel to Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital, where to date he has had 15 infusions in a bid to keep his symptoms at bay.

Bob has been delivering this brochure to all GP surgeries in his area. (Image: Bob Dart) Despite all this, he prides himself on keeping a positive outlook, although admits that he's "bitter" about his situation and "the way society treats this illness like it doesn't exist".

He is most hurt by the damage the disease has done to his hands, with the condition attacking his fingers and leaving his left index half an inch shorter.

"If there is a God, he made this personal because I used to play the guitar," Bob said. "I can't play anymore because of that left index finger.

"I haven't been able to pick up my guitar for five years."

Bob's next goal is to find his own way of fundraising in support of the Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation.

To find out more about vasculitis, visit the Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation at https://thelaurencurrietwilightfoundation.org/.