Meet the North East Man Swimming 13 Lakes for Cystic Fibrosis Trust
South Shields local Adam Ball, who lives with cystic fibrosis, is taking on all 13 of the Lake District's publicly accessible lakes to mark his 30th birthday - which was his given life expectancy at birth
From a young age, Adam has given over a large portion of his life to managing his condition. ‘Growing up it was around three hours a day of physio and treatments with various nebulisers,’ he says. ‘I would sit for hours with my mum and dad. Usually it would be about an hour to 90 minutes before school and then pretty much the same again in the evening before bed.’
These days, although Adam does still take around 60 tablets per day, physical exercise has replaced some of his physio treatment. ‘The exercise mainly takes the place of one of the physiotherapy masks that I did,’ he explains. ‘Obviously, having difficulty breathing makes it difficult, or more difficult, to do physical activity but I found early on that if I was able to grit my teeth and get through physical exercise, my lungs would feel a lot clearer,’ he says. ‘Then the next time you do exercise it might feel a tiny bit better and then feel good again after that.’
Swimming was something that Adam had enjoyed for a long time, before it finally clicked that it was doing a similar thing for his lungs as his treatment. ‘One swimming session it clicked that the actual act of the swimming motion – when your head is in the water and you’re breathing before lifting your head and taking a breath back in – the pressure of the water mimicked exactly the feeling of the physio mask that I did,’ he says. ‘The physio mask has a restrictor on it and when you breathe out it creates this pressure in the lungs which helps to scrape out any of the the built-up mucus.’
It felt natural for Adam that when he reached the milestone of 30 and wanted to celebrate it with something big, he would turn to the water. ‘I thought it’s got to be swimming related because that’s helped me so much with my lungs,’ he explains. Adam aimed high, and decided on swimming a series of 13 lakes in the Lake District. ‘I wanted it to be a challenge that would be considered a really momentous and difficult challenge for anyone, let alone [someone with] CF.’
Setting aside this summer to complete the challenge, when we speak Adam is nine lakes in (having swum Brothers Water, Grasmere, Rydal Water, Elterwater, Loweswater, Crummock Water, Buttermere, Coniston Water and Bassenthwaite). With just four to go, he confesses each new lake brings fresh nerves. ‘I’m often nervous and [it’s] a bit daunting when you’re just stood on the shoreline – you’re looking out and it’s just as far as you can see and that’s not even the end.’
The four remaining lakes include the largest of all, Windermere, which he will tackle in early September, and Adam is feeling reflective as his challenge draws closer to completion. ‘I never take my condition for granted and I am quite realistic. I’m grateful that I’m able to do a challenge like this, but I’m very mindful that there are other people with this condition [where it] affects them worse or they haven’t been as fortunate,’ he explains. ‘I am still really grateful that, despite having this life-limiting condition, I am able to push my boundaries and do quite significant things.’
Through it all, Adam has been buoyed by the messages of appreciation and encouragement he has received. ‘Obviously it’s to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which is a phenomenal charity and I’ve raised more than I could ever imagine so far, which is fantastic,’ he explains. ‘But when I’m in the water and it starts to get tough, it’s not the donations that I’m thinking of, it’s all of the nice messages I’ve had from other people with cystic fibrosis and parents of people with cystic fibrosis saying how much they feel inspired, or that there’s hope for the future.’
Now having reached such a personally significant milestone, Adam intends to continue living his life to the fullest. ‘Even from a younger age I had this approach to life where I thought, if I am to die at 30, then that is what’s written and I’m just going to try and live as much as I can within the time that I’ve got. I wanted to try hard at what I do, have a laugh with friends, and just try to enjoy life, as opposed to just going through the motions of it,’ he says. ‘Hopefully, I can continue to live a healthy life and try to give some of that back and have a positive impact on others who might be in a rut, or might be low like I once was.’
