Lupus Coffee Morning

Gerry Radford lost his wife to Lupus but still runs the coffee morning she set up in support of victims and their carers.

The monthly event was held on Tuesday at the Cooden Beach Hotel and is an opportunity to get together and share experiences.

This is a disease which affects 50,000 people in Britain - yet few of us have even heard of it.

Lupus invades the body's immune system, causing it to go into overdrive and then attack itself. However sufferers display many different symptoms, which means diagnosis and treatment can be delayed.

Retired paramedic Gerry Radford, 66, from St Leonards, has kept the Coffee Group going even though wife Jan died almost two years ago.

He said: "When she first contracted it, they said she would be lucky to reach 60...which she didn't tell me until she got to 60. She died the day before her 61st birthday, on January 29."

"Jan was a sister in the A&E department of the Royal East Sussex Hospital, but up to the time she was diagnosed she just didn't know. We had never heard of Lupus. It has become more known now because more and more people are diagnosed with it.