Laois native Professor Noel Fitzpatrick runs London Marathon

Laois born Channel 4 Supervet Professor Noel Fitzpatrick has reached the finish line of the London Marathon 2024, raising over €31,000 (£27,000) for his groundbreaking charity work.

The professor founded Humanimals Trust a decade ago, to end the practice of animal experimentation for the development of human medicines. See link to fundraiser below.

The professor who has led groundbreaking medical treatments for animal, joked that he needs a bionic leg himself after the gruelling run, and the training he put himself through.

"Right all you beautiful people, we have done it! We have totally smashed my target of £20,000 for Humanimal Trust overnight, thanks to YOU, you incredible, generous, compassionate and wonderful people. You supported me when I needed it, and thanks to that, the future for the patients – animal and human - of tomorrow is brighter.

"Not only does your donation make a massive difference to the charity, but it sends a roar of a statement that society expects a more loving and kind world for animals. The core mission of my life is to deliver just that in return for all that animals give to us.

"The fundraiser is still open for a few days and every penny helps fund the education and research which will be needed to study disease in animals and humans at the same time, delivering a win for both – One Medicine.

"I am profoundly grateful. I think I need to give myself a bionic leg today  because I am feeling very sore, but my heart is very full. Thank you with all my heart. X"

He had posted an update after the finish line too.

"In 5:28.40 I completed the TCS London Marathon on behalf of Humanimal Trust and on behalf of every single animal out there who has known pain or lives with pain and deserves access to treatment and the opportunity to a happy and pain free life.

"I did face some challenges. The last ten miles were brutal due my unfortunate ankle pain. My right leg went into muscle spasm, so I had to keep stopping and walking a bit. It was ‘interesting’ run-limping the final three miles cursing my leg which didn’t want to respond to my brain.

"But …. I really did feel a pure connectedness with my reason big enough to be there running through what is ultimately a transient pain to support the animals out there who mean so much to me. Sometimes they’re in terrible pain for years. And I’d like to make better treatments available for them because I love them and I want to do my best for them."

Prof Fitzpatrick who frequently visits Laois to see family, explains more about his trust in the fundraiser.

"Humanimal Trust raises funds for medical research and education that helps humans and animals at the same time. For example, studies in cancer, arthritis or infection in humans and animals actually affected by these diseases and without taking an animal life in the process.  

"We educate doctors, vets and the general public about how sharing medical knowledge between species can make our world vastly better. This is the philosophy of One Medicine – every patient wins; every being wins – human and animal.  

"Running a marathon is much like other challenges in life ...  there are great excuses not to do ‘everything’. But I learned a long time ago that to achieve your dreams, you can’t make excuses for ‘anything’. I encourage everyone to aim high, even when your body or your circumstances don’t lend themselves to winning - you learn the most important lesson of all - YOU are all you’ve got – and your choices make you who you are. 

"If I finish surgery late, and I want to run this marathon, I have to go training at midnight. I do not allow myself to think that I’m tired or it’s raining or cold. I do what needs to be done. I have always felt this way – when people told me I’d never be a specialist surgeon, I’d never be professor, I’d never have a successful TV show, I’d never contribute to more than a hundred scientific papers, I’d never build my hospital or I would never be able to fix a particular patient ... I ignored them, IF I thought that it was ‘the right thing to do’.

"I absolutely feel that One Medicine is ‘the right thing to do’ for the future of both humans and animals. We need to look no further than the recent pandemic to understand that we all share the same diseases, which can have devastating consequences. So it makes absolute logical sense to study those diseases in man and animal side-by-side and to give animals a fair deal.

"At the moment, doing an experiment on an animal is often the only way to get regulatory approval for safe drugs and implants for humans. Naturally we all want safe drugs and implants for humans – but remarkably, my patients cannot benefit from these same drugs and implants at the same time. Therefore cancer can be induced in an experimental animal for human benefit, yielding a drug which is great for humans and would be great for my patients, but I can’t get hold of that drug to help my patients, because nobody funded the study for the benefit of the animal.

"Furthermore, the many innovations that I have brought to dogs and cats can’t automatically be used for human patients – instead, disease is induced in experimental animals and then treated with similar innovations, to learn what I already know.

"I exist to help animals and I believe this absence of a two-way-street is illogical and unfair. By sharing knowledge from the treatment of humans and animals naturally affected by diseases, it is possible for scientific advances to be made available to all species. Alongside this, with new technologies in biology and computing, such as ‘organ-on-chip’ and AI, eventually there should no longer be a need for experiments on animals," Professor Fitzpatrick said.

See the fundraiser here. 

The public are also invited to achieve their own personal goal to fundraise for and celebrate 10 years of the Humanimal Trust. See how to take part here.