The Journey

Our wonderful friend Katie has been ill with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E) for 31 years, since she was 14. She had performed with the English National Opera and was passionate about singing and working with her beloved horses, but having M.E has meant she has missed out on all of that and so much more over the last 20 years. Katie was housebound by the age of 23. By 2014, Katie had become so severely ill that she was forced to live in a dark room, unable to tolerate light and unable to move. She had become dangerously underweight as her gut had completely shut down, and she tried to survive on tiny amounts of protein milkshake and baby food. 

No treatment was, or is, available to her in the UK, where one of the most respected M.E consultants warned her parents to prepare for her to die in the following weeks, as the disease took its horrifying course. 

Katie would have died in 2014, had she not made the brave decision to give up everything dear to her and move to a location and environment where her body had any chance at all of healing. Now, she needs help from friends, family and supporters who can afford to give even a small donation each month towards her ongoing needs, of simple shelter, and nutrition.

Katie discovered that there was a growing understanding that extreme mould sensitivity can be behind many cases of M.E. She knew at once that this applied to her, based on her history of exposures and reactions.

So she gave up her home and all belongings to give herself the chance to practise a mould avoidance strategy that has seen other patients in the USA stabilise their health.

As she made the difficult journey to parts of Spain and Portugal, she found that in areas completely free from any mould and chemical pollution, she amazingly started to regain some digestive function. Some of her neurological and other symptoms also improved beyond anything she could have imagined before she left the UK. This gives us genuine hope for the future and her long-term prognosis. This is why the support to keep her fed and safe in the right environment is so vitally important.

Since leaving the UK she has also been diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) which helps to explain why she is so violently reactive to mould and chemicals and why living in the UK, due to its weather and climate, is no longer an option for her.