Kate Wesson, one of our graduate surveyors who has the rare genetic skin blistering condition known as butterfly skin, will be walking along with her colleagues as part of our Newark office’s epic 93.5-mile fundraising challenge to raise funds for a charity which supports people with the illness.
DEBRA, is a national medical research charity and patient support organisation for people living with the extremely painful, genetic skin blistering condition, epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Around one in 50,000 people are affected by EB which causes the skin to be so delicate that it can blister and tear with minor trauma or friction.
Kate, who joined the infrastructure team in 2023, and the rest of her family have been diagnosed with EB that is also known as butterfly skin which is why she nominated DEBRA as one of the chosen charities for our ‘Big 25’ challenge.
A team from our Newark office set off on foot to Newark Castle to kick off their leg to our Knutsford office on Friday May 23, before the baton takes to the water with other team members paddleboarding up the River Trent. Over the five-day challenge, other colleagues will be cycling and hiking to reach our Knutsford office for a celebration party.
Kate said she lives a relatively normal life compared to the majority of people with EB which is why she is taking part on their behalf to raise funds for the nationwide charity. She said: “I have a mindset of ‘let’s get on and do this’. I’ve never let EB stop me and I live as much a normal life as I can for someone with EB. I want to raise money for those with EB who have it a lot worse.
“I’m not involved directly with DEBRA, but this is a small community of people with EB, and I want to try to raise awareness though this fundraising. I get regular flare-ups which sometimes makes it painful to walk. I still have scars on my knee from when I was seven that haven’t healed, but when I go to hospital every six months there are a lot of people in there worse than me.
“I feel really lucky that I have not got it that bad and it doesn’t really affect my work life. I’m in the infrastructure team and if I’m working on-site and having to walk a long way then I know I can ring my manager if my skin flares up.”
Cy Grove, Individual Giving Manager at DEBRA UK, said: “We are incredible grateful for the support of the Fisher German team in Newark. EB is an extremely rare and painful condition and by taking on this challenge to their Knutsford office, the team will raise not just vital awareness of the disease, helping us reach more people with EB, but also incredible funds to change lives and hep stop the pain of EB.”
Anyone wishing to donate should visit our GiveWheel page.