Katie was diagnosed with ME as a teenager, suffering an illness which caused her to push asides her hopes for the future, leaving her housebound and seemingly fighting a 'never ending flu.' She tried every remedy and treatment programme available, with no improvement, yet never giving up hope of beating her illness and getting on with her life. In 2013, things took a sudden and dramatic change for
the worse, when Katie became unable to eat solid foods. Within 6 months the change in her was quite shocking, as she dropped to just over 6 stone and was surviving on tiny amounts of protein milkshake and baby food. Too weak to stand, Katie relied on 24/7 care provided by friends and family, who helped her to wash, use bedpans and eat tiny amounts of her liquid diet. Her sensitivity to light, sound and touch meant that she spent almost all of her time alone in a darkened room, and nobody could offer any comfort. There is absolutely no doubt that Katie was weeks from death when, in early 2014, we became aware of a number of people in the US who described what she was suffering word-for-word. Symptoms most other ME sufferers hadn't mentioned, including the inability to digest food, intense sinus pain and an overwhelming feeling of being poisoned were all described. And these people were recovering by relocating to a pristine environment... to avoid mould and chemicals. Despite being too ill to travel, Katie agreed to move to the coast in search of cleaner air. A private ambulance arrived to relocate her as gently as possible, and so the journey began. Within days, Katie's health very gradually began to return, most notably with her ability to eat small amounts again. Katie was soon strong enough to be moved - by road - to a warmer climate in Portugal. The gruelling journey, and Katie's agreement to give up her life, pets, home and everything she knew is testament to both her mental strength and justified belief in this approach. Kate should have died in 2014, but a change in location and practising mould/chemical avoidance saved her life. Despite proving beyond all doubt that this is the answer, Katie's life is still at risk, due to a lack of finances. Thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers, Katie is still alive. However, to set up the living conditions required, we still need to raise around £12,000. And it's only one person's life. But the story that results will either be tragic or incredible, and if incredible, it could help so many others in years to come.
