16 Jun 2025

Satbir Saggu is fundraising for Leukaemia UK

Satti has taken on some incredible fundraising challenges

“With all these challenges I always reflect on what Dad would be thinking. I think he’d be saying “Satti you’re mad please don’t do this!”. But he was a great dad, and let me make my own decisions, and would always support me once my mind was made up.”

The death of his father from a very rare leukaemia has given Satti Saggu the drive to undertake some incredible challenges. Having tackled the 2023 Everest Challenge the year his father Buta died, in 2024 Satti completed the Ironman in Copenhagen. And this year on 21st June he’s attempting to cycle 200 miles and run two marathons in one continuous event to raise money for Leukaemia UK. two marathons in one continuous event to raise money for Leukaemia UK.

Buta was diagnosed at the age of 62 with chronic T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia (LGLL). This very rare, slowly-progressing type of leukaemia is diagnosed in just 240 people in the UK each year. Overall, for men there is a five year survival rate of 80.3%. Chronic LGLL is one of the subtypes of LGLL and occurs often in patients over 60 years of age.

“Dad had cardiovascular heart disease and had had a bypass,” said Satti, 45, who lives in Menston in Bradford and works as an NHS service manager. “He’d run a Sub Post Office in Bradford but had taken early retirement and sold the business in his 50s for health reasons. He recovered well from the bypass and continued having routine blood tests to monitor his heart disease. One of these in 2010 showed he had LGLL.

“I remember how frightened my dad was when receiving the diagnosis. He didn’t know what to expect, and the uncertainty around how fast the disease would progress added to this. But he was a very stoic man. He was a Sikh who had come to the UK as a young man to build a better life and had worked extremely hard to achieve it. He was put onto a ‘watch and wait’ protocol with six monthly blood tests.”

Buta’s LGLL stayed stable for 13 years as he continued to enjoy his retirement. His wife Pushpa still worked part time, and Buta spent time with his five children and nine grandchildren.

Buta with his son Satti and his granddaughter

“One of my sisters returned from Australia a few years ago specifically so her son Thomas could get to know is grandparents. My other sisters live in Harrogate and London, and my brother lives in Leeds. During those years we all visited regularly and got to spend plenty of time with mum and dad.”

In 2022, Buta started to experience more tiredness.

“Despite his heart disease he was active, he walked and was very independent. But he started to feel unwell in himself, tired with unexplained aches and pains and no energy. His blood test readings started to head in the wrong direction and they put him on more frequent tests every two months. In January 2023 the time had come to put him on chemotherapy.

“He took tablets at home but he didn’t tolerate this well, and it was at this point that his health started to decline rapidly. He became withdrawn and was experiencing severe abdominal pain. It was upsetting for us all to see the muscle wastage and how frail he became. Mum had to care for him more and we helped out as much as we could. But it was a very rapid deterioration in just a few weeks. We were all so worried and it was a really difficult time.”

Buta was admitted to hospital to be treated for pneumonia just a week before he died.

“Initially he seemed to improve but then we were told there was nothing else that could be done for him. All of us were with him, no one left his bedside for the last few days.”

Buta passed away on 31st July 2023.

Satti has since channeled his grief into charity fundraising in memory of his father in the form of incredible physical challenges.

“I’ve always done cycling and running but I think there’s a mindset that I discovered through doing these fundraising challenges – if I put my mind to something, anything is achievable. My first challenge was the 2023 Everest Challenge where I attempted to summit Ben Nevis seven times. I did it because I wasn’t very good at running hills and thought this would be a good way to get better! While an injury stopped me short of the full climb, I still conquered an incredible 20,000 feet – just 9,000 feet shy of my target. In 2024, I took the plunge into my first-ever triathlon but in true fashion, I didn’t settle for anything ordinary. I chose a full Ironman in Copenhagen, swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles, and running a marathon. This year I will be embarking on my biggest challenge yet – a test of sheer physical and  mental endurance. On 21st June 2025, I will attempt to cycle 200 miles and run two marathons in one continuous event.

“I’m doing it for Leukaemia UK because of my dad and also because I think there are smaller charities out there like Leukaemia UK that do amazing work but perhaps aren’t so well recognised. Doing something for charity helps structure my training and gives me a goal.

“With all these challenges I always reflect on what Dad would be thinking. I think he’d be saying “Satti you’re mad please don’t do this!”. But he was a great dad, and let me make my own decisions, and would always support me once my mind was made up.”

You can donate to Satti’s fundraiser here.