Buy me a virtual pint (From Dorset Echo)

Buy me a virtual pint

9:19am Saturday 1st December 2007 in News By Joanna Davis

A DYING man is putting some cheers into his life by asking drinkers to buy him a virtual pint.

Mike White, 60, wants friends, acquaintances and strangers to raise a glass to him in cyberspace on behalf of the British Lung Foundation (BLF).

He was diagnosed with cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis six years ago, a disease causing inflammation and scarring of the tiny air sacs of the lungs.

Now Mr White, of Goldcroft Avenue, Weymouth, is appealing to charitable web surfers to donate money and keep the pints flowing for the cause.

Mr White said his shared love of a project and a pint prompted the unusual idea.

He said: "My wife Liz and I thought about it at the same time and felt it appropriate.

"I'm really pleased to say the way people have responded has been wonderful."

Mr and Mrs White reached their initial £500 target in just three days and have so far raised £1,257 for the BLF in less than a week.

Mrs White, 51, said: "I first met Mike in the Victoria Hotel in Dorchester when I was a barmaid - he would always come for a pint in the evenings and knew hundreds of people.

"He's always had a pint as long as I've known him and this is the perfect way for him to carry on doing that.

"We're not asking for hundreds of pounds from people, just the price of a pint."

Despite needing an oxygen machine by his side wherever he goes, Mr White still manages to enjoy a real pint at the John Gregory in Southill.

He said: "I'm very inactive now, but I have good days and bad days and you've got to take advantage of the good days."

Mr White, who used to work for Sensory Loss in Weymouth, is looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife, his son and daughter-in-law and his two grandchildren.

The Whites have received an email from the BLF praising their fundraising and announcing extra funding for research into fibrosing lung disease.

To buy Mr White a virtual pint, visit www.justgiving.com/white