'Miracle drug makes my marathon dream a reality'

A man with cystic fibrosis says a drug for his condition has changed his life and made it possible for him to run marathons.

Tom Dyas, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, is one of more than 11,000 people in the UK with the rare generic condition, which affects breathing as well as digestion, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

However he said he was now able to complete his dream of running a marathon due to the so-called miracle drug Kaftrio, which he started taking in 2020.

Dyas is now preparing for the London Marathon in April and said it was thanks to the drug: "Before Kaftrio there was no way I could do any sort of long distance running, not even close.

"You'd be lucky to get one kilometre out of me!"

The 29-year-old was first diagnosed with the condition when he was three-and-a-half.

He told BBC Shropshire he often could not take part in the usual sports growing up and had given up on his dream of running a marathon.

Then in 2020 he was offered the opportunity to take Kaftrio, which NHS England said "significantly improves lung function" and "enhances the overall quality of life" of people living with cystic fibrosis.

Dyas said, once he was used to the drug, it drastically improved things for him.

"Personally, it's nothing short of a miracle drug really.

"My lung capacity went from around 60% to 95% plus, which was mind-blowing because I never thought it would be achievable"

One of the things that Dyas took up after taking Kaftrio was running and he completed both the Shrewsbury 10k and the Shrewsbury Half Marathon, something he said was an emotional experience.

"When I crossed that [Shrewsbury 10k] finish line I was quite emotional really because it was something that I never thought was close to possible," he said.

"Yeah I cried at the finish line."

He is now training to run the London Marathon in April for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and said he hoped to fundraise to help other people with his condition.

"I'm one of the very lucky people to get on Kaftrio, so I'm simply raising money for people who haven't been able to get on it, or other drugs yet, and children growing up with it like me 20 years ago," he said.

"I know it sounds cliche but it literally has changed my life... it's completely different, different outlook on life now and on what I can achieve"

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