Holly Roesing: South Carolina Lyme Activist

Each day of May for Lyme Awareness Month in 2015, whatislyme.com would like to recognize someone in the Lyme community that has done something to try to help the Lyme community. There are several “unsung heroes” in our community and we would  like to just offer them a little recognition and make sure that their achievements and efforts don’t go  unnoticed.

Today we would like to honor Holly Roesing.

Holly has done a lot of amazing work in bringing about Lyme Awareness in South Carolina.

A very sweet quote from Holly,

“I don’t feel like what I do deserves an applause, it is just where God put me in life. I know he put me through this trial to be a servant and help to others. God put me in this role so I give him all the honor for making me well enough to do what I can.”

A little background on Holly’s Lyme Story

“I’ve had Lyme since 2005. Wasn’t diagnosed until 2011 at the age of 39. I had two TIA strokes and ended up with a picc line for 18 months. I have been in remission (with one relapse) for almost 2 years.”

Annual Events Holly Works on:

“Each year I do the Seaside Health Fair in Garden City, South Carolina. There are almost 100 Exhibitors. The fair draws in about 1,000 or so visitors. We hand out Lyme Awareness Pencils with lots of lime colored treats, like bubbles, taffy, Lei’s and necklaces. We also have many handouts, book marks and Tick pocket cards from Nat Cap Lyme and Lyme Awareness.org.

Secondly, we do the Annual “Pet Parade” in Myrtle Beach. It draws a really good crowd from the surrounding areas. As always, we go big on color – and have an array of Lyme posters with many slogans.

Once of our events helped with a local doctor in joining ILADS and becoming trained. Our exposure gets bigger each year.

I also run a local South Carolina Lyme Support Group on Facebook. It has drawn in Lyme sufferers from all over the state, but targets primarily coastal South Carolina – since the state is SOOO big. On a typical week, I help about 3 new Lyme patients, either from around SC or nationwide.

I run the Worldwide Lyme Rally page for South Carolina which is for everyone in our state to be Lyme Aware.

See some of Holly’s pictures here from the first rally.

Last year, I jumped on board with Mary Ann Mazzarella to launch a kindness campaign in the name of Lyme Disease. The page is called “Be Kind For Lyme”. We promote random acts of kindness with the hashtag #bekindforlyme. We ask for people to capture on video themselves or others performing acts of kindness and share on our page, or find videos that represent acts of kindness and hashtag them. We also have a #SupershareSunday where people in the Lyme community can share their own health fundraisers or promote something they sell to help pay for their treatment.

Be Kind for Lyme Campaign

1. Perform a random act of kindness or tap into a story you may already have.
2. Go to the Be Kind for Lyme FB, Twitter or Instagram page and post your short story – with a video or photo or just the story of your act
3. Tag 3 friends to join the movement asking them to follow these steps. If they don’t complete the challenge within 3 days, they must donate to one of the Lyme non-profit organizations listed on the BKFL FB page.
4. Donations can be $10 and up.
5. Be sure to use type #bekindforlyme & @bekindforlyme

***This is supposed to be a fun way to create a kind community while promoting an understanding of Lyme Disease awareness and research!

Check out and Follow:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaS-…
https://twitter.com/bekindforlyme
http://instagram.com/bekindforlyme

I’m an administrator for two North Carolina Lyme Support groups with some Lyme friends in my neighboring state. One is a beginner group to help those in the early stages and the 2nd one is more advanced for those we have come to know better and who are well situated in the Lyme community.

Lastly, I have worked with the Georgia Lyme Association intermittently on how we can bring more awareness to the south.

Coming Events

Our next awareness event is May 29th in Market Commons, Myrtle Beach and we are working on a Lyme Rally at the capital in Columbia, SC.

Past Events

Holly was the South Carolina Coordinator for the SC Worldwide Lyme Protest at the Common’s Market in 2014.

See More Pictures Here

Article on Holly:

Her doctor put her on antibiotics for three weeks, and at first she was fine. But over the next few years, Holly suffered through a series of debilitating problems, including chest pain, extreme joint pain, and non-stop headaches.

A year and half ago, she suffered a mini stroke.

Holly has been contacted to do a follow up to this article.

So because of all the above efforts Holly has put into Lyme activism, we would like to thank her for all she has done for Lyme patients and Lyme awareness!

 Click Here to Get Back to List of May Tributes

If you would like to thank Holly, please post a message in the comment section below.