A STOCKTON 21-year-old who has cystic fibrosis (CF) has been thrown a lifeline after she was given access to a ground-breaking drug.

Abi Purcifer is one of 10,500 people in the UK who have CF and who are classed as vulnerable during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Until March, Abi's health was in a steep decline.

At one point her lung function had plummeted to just 20 per cent and she was on full-time oxygen and having to use a wheelchair.

Then at the end of March she was thrown a lifeline.

Abi was given access to a ground-breaking triple combination therapy Trikafta, which has completely turned her health around.

But just as Abi was beginning to experience the benefits of the drug, the coronavirus pandemic forced the UK into lockdown and she is now being forced to shield at home.

Abi decided to take part in the ‘Bounce 4 CF’ campaign because she wanted to help to highlight the financial and mental health difficulties that both adults and children with CF currently face.

The Bounce 4 CF online event was started by children and teenagers who have CF and have been shielding at home since March.

Adults with CF have the same need to exercise daily.

Abi has posted some videos of herself bouncing at home – an activity that would have been impossible for her to do before she started on Trikafta.

She is also encouraging her friends to join in and send her their own bouncing videos.

CF campaigner Sue Barnes, said: "People living with cystic fibrosis have to exercise daily to help to shift the thick, sticky mucus that builds up in their lungs and other organs.

"Some of the best activities for this are bouncing activities like trampolining. Usually people use a wide range of sports and classes to vary the activities and make physio more fun. But this is proving difficult in such limited circumstances.

“To help with motivation, some of our community decided to set themselves bouncing challenges, for example, bouncing for 20 minutes every day for a week or doing laps around the garden on a space hopper."

They‘re sharing videos online and asking the general public to sponsor them on the following link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bounce4cf