This fund has been set up to remember the Abbaraju Family, orginally from Secunderabad, India, and specifically those who suffered from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, an incurable condition which is still relatively unknown and for which further research is desperately needed.

Four of the six Abbaraju siblings - Rukmini (1942 - 2007), Srinivas Rao (1937 - 2012), Srihari Rao (1947 - 2014), and recently, Mohan Rao (1953-2020), the youngest in his family, have all suffered and passed away from this condition. Adilakshmi (1937-1995) the eldest, suffered from suspected sarcoidosis, and it is now thought she may have in fact had IPF which was incorrectly diagnosed. For most, diagnosis came only around 2-3 years before their death. Having seen the short and painful journey his elder brothers and sister endured with IPF,  Mohan had commenced a lot of his own research into how to manage his own condition, from commencing oxygen therapy early to exploring homeopathic pain remedies to diet and weight control. Currently the only successful treatment is a full lung transplant; Mohan was on the UK transplant list for 18 months before his health deteriorated and a potential transplant was deemed too risky.

Mohan and his family regularly donated to the British Lung Foundation in the hope that more could be done to understand the cause of this disease, and in particular, the probability of future generations of our family developing it. Mohan had even indicated his wish to donate his body to medical research to support this; he sadly passed away days before he was able to finalise the paperwork to enable this. We therefore want to do everything we can to honour this wish and remember him and his siblings, by earmarking these donations specifically to IPF research. 

We are so grateful that you have taken the time to visit this page and to make a donation; hopefully with your help we can support the British Lung Foundation in progressing their research and potentially other treatment options into this horrible disease.

The Abbaraju family