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 Natasha Metcalf and Louise Dean!

They were nominated by: Joanne Lee

Natasha and  Louise founded Lyme Disease UK together in 2013, we have a website, Facebook page, Facebook discussion group and use Twitter. We also send out a free monthly newsletter with news, featured fundraisers and so on.

Their Websites:

Website: Lyme Disease UK
Facebook: Lyme Disease UK
Facebook: Lyme Disease Discussion Group
(This is a private group, Click this link to request to join)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UKLyme

A list of the kind of stuff we’ve done is on our group projects page of our website – http://lymediseaseuk.com/group-achievements/

“Our main goal is patient support, we provide a friendly group where people can come for support and advice, and we promote local meet ups through our social media networks. We also go to protests, conferences and other events when our health allows, to represent patients. We work with other organisations like Lyme Research UK and LymeAid UK in joint projects and help to promote them. We’ve met with Public Health England and got a written response to list of questions put forward by patients. We’ve also acted as a go-between for patients to get their stories into the media to raise awareness.” ~Louise Dean

Some of their Accomplishments

2015

• Keep you informed of upcoming Support Groups.
• In January 2015, LDUK group members Demetrios Loukas, Denise Longman and Peter Kemp organised the first ever patient-lead Parliamentary Conference on Lyme disease which was opened and chaired by The Countess of Mar. LDUK’s write up of the event and links to the presentations can be found here.
• The launch of the The Big Tick Project project sparked a lot of media attention and LDUK group members were interviewed by My Pet Online, BBC Breakfast, STV, BBC Radio Suffolk, ITV and also featured in The Daily Mail. A good round up of the publicity can be found on Joanne Drayson’s blog; Looking At Lyme.

To see more of what has been done in 2015 Click Here.

2014

• Co-founder Natasha Metcalf featured in a BBC Inside Out West documentary in January 2014 featuring the problems surrounding Lyme disease testing and treatment.

They were a part of the 2014 Worldwide Lyme Protest in the UK

See many more of the LDUK’s accomplishments in 2014

2013

In April 2013 we conducted a letter writing campaign to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt detailing our personal histories with Lyme. Learn More Here

They both took part in the Worldwide Lyme Protest UK 2013 outside the Department of Health in London.

See More Pictures of the WWLP UK 2013 Here

• We also helped to collect signatures for one of the biggest petitions on Lyme disease the UK has seen with over 5,000 signatures at the time of handing it in to the Department of Health.

These are just a couple of the accomplishments these two women have done, please click here to see more!

About Louise and Natasha

Louise’s Lyme Story

“I came down with a mystery illness in May 2011, 2 weeks after a week long visit to a forested national park in rural France where deer roamed freely. I had vague but severe flu-like symptoms that were initially diagnosed as a kidney infection. After the 5 day course of anti biotics I was not better and had many blood tests with nothing showing up as abnormal. I spent 6 weeks in bed, and over a further 6 weeks I recovered, never knowing what had caused it.
Read Full Story Here

Natasha’s Lyme Story

“I was bitten by a tick aged 16 which was the start of my health problems. I had to drop out ofschool as I had terrible headaches and concentration problems and I was exhausted yet doctors always insisted that I was just depressed. Antidepressants failed to help me but I managed to recover myself after a few months in bed. I had my next relapse when I was 19 at university with a return of the same symptoms as well as swollen glands and feeling as though I was coming down with the flu.”
Keep Reading Full Article Here

So we would like to thank Louise and Natasha for all they are doing to spread Lyme Disease Awareness in the UK and worldwide! Thank you!