They’ve only gone and done it again! We were blown away by the generous donation from Pendle Young Farmers Club Charity Speed Shear last year. They have chosen to support LDUK yet again for their 2023 event and we are over the moon to have their continued support.
Hundreds of spectators bought tickets to watch the 2023 Charity Speed Shear at Gisburn Auction Mart on 2nd September. The competition was to complete the fastest, cleanest lamb shear. Congratulations to James Dennis, Open Champion on the night! There was also a pie eating competition washed down with plenty of pints of beer. The event raised an incredible £12,743 for the Club’s chosen charities – Lyme Disease UK, Sepsis Trust and Field Nurse.
Dan Duerden, member of the Pendle Young Farmers Club suffers from Lyme disease. With the support of his family and young farming friends around him, Dan is doing his best to raise an amazing amount of awareness, by making people aware of the signs, symptoms and prevention methods in order to help find Lyme early or hopefully prevent it. Dan thanked all of the supporters on the night and gave an update on his health.
“We’re a family, us farmers, we stick to together. When one man’s down we stand by them and pick them back up and that’s what’s going on here tonight.
I’ve been on a rollercoaster and glad to be feeling a bit better. It’s still a long road to feeling right but I’m moving forward.”
Soak up the atmosphere of the night, enjoy watching some speedy shearing and hear more from Dan in the clip below.
Dan’s Story
Dan contracted Lyme Disease whilst contract sheep shearing. He came home with a rash on his elbow, however he and his family thought it was ringworm. It wasn’t until symptoms started to show, which for Dan was stiffness and pain in his arm and the locking of his hands which he thought was carpel tunnel.
One day he was shearing and couldn’t carry on with the pain anymore so he decided to seek medical attention. He went to the hospital where he was tested for Lyme Disease and the NHS test came back negative. A later visit to a private hospital where again he was tested for Lyme, four months after the bite came back positive.
Since being bitten, Dan has experienced many life changing symptoms, such as excruciating pain in his joints, being bed bound at times, unable to work, poor mental health and daily frustration when not being able to carry out simple day to day jobs.
Dan has shared his story with the Lancashire Telegraph and Farmers Guardian to try and raise awareness of the disease and make sure that people know how to spot the early signs of Lyme disease following a tick bite. Dan recently told us:
“I had somebody the other day contact me to say they haven’t been well for a year, but they saw an article in the press about me, and it led to them discovering they have Lyme disease. Just goes to show.”
