Voice No. 51 is also our Scars of Gold photographer and campaign co-director - the wonderfully bubbly and positive Sammy Weston. Sammy's journey with chronic illness began when she was 11 years old and is a story that until recently Sammy has struggled to talk about publicly because of the social stigma of disease. Sammy was still only a child when she developed meningitis which then led to significant post-infection complications seeing her housebound for several years having to be home schooled. Consequently Sammy missed out on the majority of her teenage years and what is often a crucial developmental stage of someone's life and finding their self identity. Meningitis is a life threatening infection around the brain and spinal cord and left Sammy with life long complications. When Sammy struggled to recover fully it took years of trying to advocate for herself to eventually get a diagnosis of ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A post-infection autoimmune response which is only now since Covid becoming a more understood complication but still carries significant stigma in society. As a result of the devastating impact of the infection and complications, the inevitable toll on Sammy's mental health became another secondary complication.

Sammy talks openly and honestly about the stigma of chronic disease and having an invisible disability, on how there is not a day she does not feel limited by the pain, immense fatigue and other ongoing effects. However Sammy's eternal optimism and hope shines through and she shares how she manages to find a way to listen to her own body to continue doing the things she loves. Whilst recovering from being housebound Sammy found a love for photography which helped her confidence grow and re-integrate into society. This eventually led her on the path to finding Mortal And Strong, going on to become our photography and campaign co-director. Sammy shares how through the campaign she has grown in confidence at masking less, feeling more open at sharing the daily effects of brain fog, fatigue, and other symptoms which for so long so many people try to mask for fear of judgment. Sammy's journey can resonate with so many, particularly how the mental toll of chronic fatigue can be grossly underestimated but does not mean you have to lose your identity and that there can be hope still found.

Thank you to Sammy for sharing her story, being another essential Voice in our campaign (and for being our amazing photographer at bringing the Scars of Gold series to the impactful collection it is proving to be!).

For more information on anything discussed in this episode, please visit our website.

Mortal And Strong is a registered charity (No. 1209448) providing education and support for people facing their mortality - those experiencing life changing/incurable conditions at a young age. Scars of Gold is our debut health awareness campaign sharing messages of hope and strength. Founded by Dr Liz Murray.

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