Katie Price has helped launch a hard-hitting campaign for Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month following her mum, Amy’s ‘devastating’ diagnosis.
Amy, 71, lived with pulmonary fibrosis before her recent lung transplant, with the pair now showing full support to the APF’s You Can’t See What’s Killing Me campaign.
She explained how the disease ‘robs people of breath and life’ as Katie stressed the importance of raising awareness as concerning data shows that it’s on the rise.
The former glamour model, 45, explained: ‘Mum’s been amazing but it’s been devastating having pulmonary fibrosis – for her and the whole family.
‘When you say cancer everyone knows what it is but with pulmonary fibrosis nobody’s ever heard of it. That’s why I’m so passionate about more people knowing about it and supporting Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis and their campaign this September.’
Speaking out: Katie Price has helped launch a hard-hitting campaign for Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month following her mum, Amy’s ‘devastating’ diagnosis
Amy added: ‘I know what it’s like to live with pulmonary fibrosis – it’s a horrible disease that robs you of your breath and life. We need to grab people’s attention, so more people know what pulmonary fibrosis is.
‘Our GPs and nurses at the surgeries require more training so they can recognise the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis and not confuse it with asthma and other lung diseases. That’s why I’m supporting Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis’s campaign’.
Amy further stressed the importance of raising awareness on the lung disease following concerning data that showed it’s currently on the rise.
New statistics released today from the charity Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis revealed that over three quarters of people with pulmonary fibrosis (77%) say their GP didn’t tell them they might have pulmonary fibrosis before referring them to hospital leaving patients unaware they’re living with a fatal lung disease.
Earlier this week Katie revealed her mother’s life was put at risk by climate activists, who blocked the road as she travelled to the hospital for an organ transplant
The former glamour model explained that Amy only had two weeks to live at the time and ‘nearly died’ because you only have three hours to get to hospital for a transplant.
While she was being rushed to the hospital, the road was blocked by Just Stop Oil, who had staged a protest on the M25.
Battle: Amy , 71, lived with pulmonary fibrosis before her recent lung transplant – and is now showing full support to the APF’s You Can’t See What’s Killing Me campaign (pictured with Katie in 2019)
Tough: She explained how the disease ‘robs people of breath and life’ as Katie stressed the importance of raising awareness as concerning data shows that it’s on the rise
Amy had just weeks left to live until she found a donor for a lung.
Speaking on the Private Parts podcast, she said: ‘Mum had two weeks left to live at the time. She found a donor. She was waiting five years for a lung.
‘It was the day all the oil protesters were on the M25 and you have three hours to get to hospital otherwise you can’t have the donor [organ].
‘So they had to get an ambulance. When they were on the motorway, they didn’t realise!’
However, Katie went on to add that a heroic ambulance driver went on to save the day by cutting through to make sure she got to the hospital on time.
She said: ‘They had to go up the hard shoulder, and get an ambulance to get through it, because if you’re not there you lose it [the lung].’
Amy previously hailed the medical staff who carried out her operation as ‘amazing’ and also paid tribute to the regular faces she saw on every hospital appointment because they meant Katie could feel ‘less worried’ about her when she was unable to be by her side.
She told The Sun: ‘The doctors and surgeons who did my transplant are amazing but it is the friendly faces you see at every appointment that mean the world. Katie couldn’t be here 24/7, so knowing I had a family here made everyone less worried about me.’
It comes after Katie was slammed by fans for vaping on her podcast despite her influence on young people and her mother’s incurable lung condition.
Scary: The former glamour model explained: ‘Mum’s been amazing but it’s been devastating having pulmonary fibrosis – for her and the whole family (pictured with her sister Sophie)
Katie shared a clip of a new episode of her podcast The Katie Price Show on where she can be seen vaping while chatting to her younger sister Sophie.
In the video clip, Katie discussed a viral clip of her singing A Whole New World out of tune.
The reality star insisted the clip had been tampered with and people are always trying to ‘discredit’ whatever she does.
She said: ‘Someone’s tried to distort it and make me sound s**t. People have seen me singing on TikTok live to know that I can sing it.
‘Whatever I do, people try and knock it, damage it, do something to discredit me. I can sing it.’
Katie is now taking her podcast on the road, announcing a stage show at The Lowry (Quays) in Salford on Tuesday November 7.
The media personality will be joined by her sister Sophie for the event where the pair have promised no topic will be off limits.
It comes after Katie and her mother have now revealed during an Ok! interview, that she has been given longer to live following her miracle lung transplant.
Amy, who has recently published her own autobiography, The Last Word, had been keeping the news of her transplant under wraps until recently.
But the mother and daughter duo now feel ready to share the happy news that Amy has undergone a successful transplant, as they thanked doctors and her donor.
Heart-breaking: Amy added: ‘I know what it’s like to live with pulmonary fibrosis – it’s a horrible disease that robs you of your breath and life’ (Pictured in 2019)
Health: It comes after Katie was slammed by fans for vaping on her podcast despite her influence on young people and her mother’s incurable lung condition
Treatments for IPF include drugs, breathing through an oxygen mask and a lung transplant in rare cases.
These slow the rate at which the condition gets worse but none can stop or reverse the scarring of the lungs.
The transplant should improve Amy’s quality of life and help her live longer, according to Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Just over half of people who have the transplant will live for five years after the procedure.