LUKE BAGLEE

 22/10/81 – 18/7/04

My Son Luke aged just 22, died very suddenly after a short, undetermined illness in July 04, at Queen Alexander’s Hospital, Portsmouth. Luke was working as a Croupier at the Casino in Gun Wharf, and for sometime prior to that he worked with me here in the Office, He was a keen Motorcyclist having passed his Test both by the restricted route, and when he became 21; he passed the accelerated Access Test.

 As a result of the Post Mortem it was discovered that he had died of Haemochromatosis, or GH (Genetic Haemochromatosis), a genetic disorder causing the body to absorb an excessive amount of iron from the diet: the iron is then deposited in various organs, mainly the liver, but also the pancreas, heart, endocrine glands, and joints.

For a long time it was believed that the disorder was rare, so GH was seldom considered as a possible diagnosis. However, recent surveys of people of Northern European origin have shown a prevalence of 1 in 400 likely to be at risk of developing iron overload. GH is now recognised as being one of the most common genetic disorders.

Luke was just 22 when he died, and generally Heamochromatosis will not manifest itself in the body until much later in life. Symptoms of the disease are pale skin, tiredness, lethargy and the ability to sleep for long periods. Luke was a 22 year old, who worked mostly nights and like any teenager was always tired and could sleep for England! As a result the symptoms were undetected by our GP.

The Aim of the Heamochromatosis society is to promote the awareness & support and information for those affected by GH, and To promote AWARENESS among the health professions, patients and their families, the general public and policy makers so that the condition may be diagnosed and treated in time. There is also a need to overcome the misconceptions that GH is rare, that only middle-aged men are at risk, and women are seldom affected until their menopause.

PARAGON will be raising funds for the society, with fund raising events, rideouts etc, so please support us in our endeavours.

LATEST UPDATE - MAY 2005

After a recent Consultation, with a Consultant Genetisist, it is now thought that Luke died of an even rarer form of Heamochromatosis, called 'Juvenile Heamochromatosis' which can occur within the first three decades of Life, it is fairly undetectable unless actually looking for it, and can sometime show no signs of the disease, but will gradually break down the vital organs, ie Liver, Heart etc. It is normally fatal, because unless you actually ask for a Blood test to check for Iron overload, it is unlikely that you know you have the disease! Obviously in our case we can now inform our close relatives to get their Children checked out.

'Not a lot of people know that........'

Haemochromatosis is one of the most common genetic disorders. Also known as 'Iron overload disorder'

It affects up to 1 in 4 in the UK, about 1 in 10 people are carriers.

Ireland has the worlds highest incidence: 1 in 83 are affected, and 1 in 5 are carriers.

If you have it your body absorbs more iron than it needs, The iron stays in your organs and can cause irreparable damage.

EARLY DETECTION & TREATMENT SAVES LIVES!

Symptoms develop slowly and may include: Chronic fatigue, Abdominal pain, skin colour change, Insulin dependant diabetes type2, Joint pain and Arthritis 9often first finger knuckle), Heart irregularity, Diminished sex drive.

Detection of Excess Iron, is by simple blood Tests.

For more information contact your GP or The Haemochromatosis Society, Hollybush House, Hadley Green Road, Barnet, Herts, EN5 5PR, tel: 020 8449 1363 or  Check out their website by clicking on the logo below.

Registered Charity number 10011307

The aims of the Society are to:

Support People with Haemochromatosis, Promotes Awareness among the health professions, Patients and their families, the general public, and policy makers, to encourage vital early diagnosis. Advancing research and working with international partners to improve understanding of the disorder.

 26 Riders took part in:

If you want to make a donation to this worthy cause, pop by the shop or send cheques payable to: THE LUKE BAGLEE HAEMO FUND

A CHARITY RAFFLE & AUCTION WAS HELD AT:

THE RED LION PUB

STUBBINGTON, nr Fareham, Hants

ON MONDAY 28th April, commencing at 1930, By Kind permission of Pete & Liz, the Landlords, Lots of great items were raffled or auctioned, Weekend break for two, Meals for two, Oxford luggage, Buffs, Jackets, VIP days at British Superbikes, T shirts and so much more,  Raising funds for Haemochromatosis, in conjunction with the 'Saddlesore' Rally, a full report to follow!

If you want to make a donation to this worthy cause, pop by the shop or send cheques payable to: THE LUKE BAGLEE HAEMO FUND

PARAGON's Beano to France 2005 - By Andy 'Banjo' Weston

 Friday the 20^th May dawned, but not bright and sunny like we had hoped. Instead a blanket of low grey cloud covered the south coast and it didn’t bode well for our journey to the ferry let alone the long run to La Brulatte in the Mayenne region of France. 

How can so much happen to so few in such a short period of time? Digit Dave forgot he had his glasses on when he put his helmet on and sliced his nose open, Nerolie slipped and lowered her bike before getting out of the driveway, and to really cap it all, the heavens opened as we set off so by the time we got to the ferry port there were ten drowned rats hugging coffee cups as we waited to board.

 Mark’s alarm decided it did not want to go on holiday so it made sure that, after a comfortable crossing that his Fazer was not going to start. This meant we had an hours delay whilst the bike was pushed off the ferry no thanks to the ferry staff who just watched. With the engine eventually ticking over we headed out of Le Havre over the vertical bridges (Pont Du Normandie) that the girls really enjoyed!, we don’t think, and headed down the superb roads that they have over there, there are a couple of things that stuck out on the journey, how flat the place was and you certainly know you are in farming country due to the smells. 

It was a typical first journey to a new venue, we stopped several times to check maps, the last stop being just a couple of kilometres from the B & B which is conveniently situated next to a speed camera; one of only three in the region. This was also when Nel decided to retire from riding and to stick to pillion. 

Mike & Molly Gates, together with their daughter Katy welcomed us to their superb accommodation, La Croix Au Vanneur, (www.mayenne-bandb-tours.com) both for us and our bikes. Clean spacious rooms, great swimming pool for those that had a dip, huge garage for the bike, pressure washer, drying room, route information, this place has the lot.  

We had decided to have our evening meal there as it was going to be a celebration of Soo Whymarks birthday which had been the previous day; it did not disappoint and was finished off with a surprise cake which was so big it lasted two days. In fact the food was that good we booked our Sunday dinner there and then. After a few beers we got our heads down in preparation for our first full day of touring in the region. 

After dips in the pool we filled up on a lovely continental breakfast and headed off, for Mont St Michel as our first port of call. Fighting our way through the crowds we had a good nose around and grabbed a bit of lunch just before the heavens opened; when it rains there it rains BIG. Patches of gravel and farm waste made for interesting riding on the way back that was for sure. 

We had decided to hire Mike’s BBQ’s for the evening so we popped into a local supermarket and bought a load of meat, bread and salad and settled in for the evening drying ourselves and our clothes whilst ensuring that our insides were suitably wet with the wine and beer. A great fun night with silly games and even a bit of lap dancing finished off a really enjoyable day. We also realised that we had bought too much so a lot of cooked and uncooked meat was donated to the fridge. 

Sunday dawned just like Friday, dull and overcast which we hoped would blow over, it didn’t, the day had settled into a routine, really heavy rain interspersed with light drizzle and the occasional chink of sunshine. After seeing a window of opportunity we decided to head out and did a loop looking at all the shut places in the region! Nothing happens on a Sunday by the looks of it apart from the occasional café where we could get a chewy coffee to warm ourselves up. Mark decided to power slide his way out of one roundabout which made for interesting viewing from behind! He was also on the verge of attacking a petrol station card reader as it didn’t like his, or come to thing of it, anyone’s card. That was until a local guy turned up to fill up himself. Thanks to a bit of pigeon English/French talking we persuaded him that we would give him cash if he used his card which he was happy to do which was really nice of him. 

Sunday dinner was well worth the wait, we were joined by Melvin and Terry of Custom Motorbike Seats who were returning after a trip to the Pyrenees and a lively bit of banter went on for a couple of hours. Most people retired early as Monday was going to be a long final day. 

Typical isn’t it! The last day had the best weather. After filling up on breakfast, we sorted our gear out and bode farewell to our hosts with ‘we will return’ ringing in their ears. The plans were to head up to Utah Beach and then weave our way along the coast to Le Havre, the plan started well; Utah Beach was reached after the travelling the best roads of the weekend and an ideal lunch stop as well. Next stop was going to be the American Cemetery, unfortunately we didn’t get there as Graham’s Blackbird picked up an electrical fault which basically killed the bike, no matter what we tried it didn’t want to play any more so, whilst we were at least safe in a service area, we called here, there and everywhere to try to get something sorted out.  

After nearly four hours, a hire van was sorted out and we postponed the visits until the next time and headed off to Le Havre. As the weather was so good it seemed an ideal opportunity to see how well the bikes performed on such good roads and we all had a chance to crank them open for a while. 

Safely at the ferry port with time to spare we waited patiently to board, and after a few liquid sleeping pills tried to get some shut eye in the coldest, noisiest, most uncomfortable room on board! 

Getting off in the morning was just as eventful, maybe Mark’s bike does not like ferries as it would not start, always check for that funny green neutral light mate! Even the trip home caused him problems with it only firing on three, time for a new bike soon? 

Did we enjoy ourselves? Damn right we did!  

Would we go again? Stupid question! Of course we would. 

Banjo's Top Tips: 

1. Ensure the bike is serviced prior to the trip.

2. Make sure it is suited to touring, an SV is not!

3. Get your clothes sorted out then leave a third of them behind, make sure you have waterproofs.

4. Have small plastic bags for alarm fobs etc to help keep them dry.

5. If you plan on going out on a Sunday, fill up on the Saturday.

6. Get European Cover on your insurance.

7. Leave space in your baggage for the shopping.

8. Don’t’ get reclining seats on the ferry, use the sofa’s in the lounge areas.