My name is Donna Petford, on Friday August 25th 2023, I am organising a charity golf event at Collingtree Golf Club in Northampton. This is in aid of Imperial Health Charity, The Blood Fund. I have chosen this charity and fund to honour my dad, Milton Marsh, who died on 19th January2023 from a little know condition called HTLV, Adult T Cell Lymphoma.

HTLV-1 infects at least 5 million to 10 million people worldwide, although information is unavailable for many countries, so this figure is likely to be an underestimate. In England and Wales, an estimated 30,000 people are living with the virus. About 5% to 10% of people with HTLV-1 will develop lymphoma.
This virus is commonly found in people from the Caribbean, parts of Japan, and some areas of South and Central America and Africa, as well as sporadic cases from around the world. People usually acquire the virus at birth or during breastfeeding. This lymphoma is aggressive and requires urgent treatment in most patients and stem cell transplantation is frequently needed.

My dad was not aware that he was infected with this disease until he was 67 years old. He did not have any symptoms until 2021 when he was on holiday in the Caribbean with my mum. Things progressed when he got home but due to little being known about this condition, it took 6 months to diagnose him with HTLV 1. By the time he was diagnosed, the condition had already progressed into Adult T-Cell Lymphoma.

Dad was lucky enough to be accepted onto the Valentine Trial which was running at the University College Hospital London in Summer 2022. This trial was specifically aimed at people with his condition. At first we felt it may be successful but as time went on, his condition deteriorated and 9 months after his initial diagnosis he succumbed to his illness. Due to the fact that this condition can be passed on through various means, my self and my immediate family have been tested and have been luckily that we do not carry the gene but we are now aware that there are people in my wider family who have got the gene but are asymptomatic.

As this condition has very much touched my life and due to others of my family being carries, I decided that I want to raise awareness of this disease as well as raising money for the charity. The Imperial Health Charity work on research and treatment for people with this condition. I am hoping to raise as much money as possible to go towards education and research into this little known condition as well as working towards further advances in a treatment.

Kind request:

I am writing to ask if you might be willing to donate a prize that we can raffle/auction at the event or if you would like to sponsor a hole? Your generous donation would be supporting a fantastic cause and you will be thanked on the night as well as on social media platforms afterwards. Anything you could do, or offer, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards
Donna Petford
Tel: 07968528053