A HARTLEY Wintney woman is taking part in her own version of a marathon to raise awareness for a rare autoimmune condition.

Juliet Coffer was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis in 2004, a rare disease with no known cure that affects roughly two in every 10,000 people in the UK.

It causes small patches of red and swollen tissue to attack her lungs, causing severe breathing difficulties that affects her ability to go about her day-to-day life and ended her life-long ambition of completing a marathon.

But in Sarcoidosis awareness month, Juliet has decided to complete her own version of a marathon to raise awareness, and funds to help combat, the condition. She has set out to walk 100 metres every day in April, a real challenge for her.

After reaching the halfway point on Tuesday, two days early, she told The Gazette: “I wanted to raise awareness and the profile of the charity. It is a fantastic resource.

“I don’t know how long I have left,” she said, “my capacity is progressively declining. 50 per cent of people who can’t be treated anymore like me don’t survive more than two years. This is the time to do it.”

After attending a virtual event during lockdown, the computer trainer was determined to raise money for the charity, although was not able to cover the distances being suggested.

Instead, she decided to come up with her own challenge - walking 100 metres a day further, doubling the distance she usually walks in a day.

Juliet, originally from Hertfordshire, has already smashed her target of raising £1,000 for Sarcoidosis UK, with the total on her JustGiving page standing at almost £6,900 as of Tuesday morning.

She has now set her sights on raising a total of £10,000, and making a real difference to the future of people diagnosed with the disease.

“If my fundraising can help find a cure so people don’t have to go through what I do, if I can make a difference, then I would have done something good in this world,” she added.

“I didn’t think it would get more than £1,000 but now we are just short of £7,000. That is way beyond my expectations.

“It is totally overwhelming. People’s kindness and generosity is overwhelming.

“I just think I am little old me in the house. We have this little reality just for us,” she continued, adding that she was already isolating before the Covid lockdown.

“I have put myself out there to people and I am so touched.”

You can donate to Juliet’s fundraiser here.