Lyme Disease Awareness Month
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and every year, we run our annual ‘Wake Up To Lyme’ campaign.
Many members of the public have never heard of Lyme disease before, so our campaign aims to raise awareness of the illness. Throughout the month, we also underline the importance of taking precautions against ticks, and the steps you should take if you’re bitten.
Raising Awareness by Sharing our Patient Stories
One of the most powerful ways we can raise awareness of Lyme disease is by sharing our patient stories. As humans, we are naturally social creatures and real-life experiences are often the most popular daily news items.
If it’s something you feel comfortable with, we would be really grateful if you would consider contacting newspapers, magazines, radio, or TV stations to share your story with them.
This year, LDUK’s ‘Wake Up To Lyme’ initiatives are set to reach around 1 million people, but with your help, we could see this number more than double! A powerful patient story could be picked up by a newspaper like the Daily Mail, which has a daily readership of 2 million people.
The aim is to create enough of an impact through our stories that others feel compelled to take precautions against being bitten by ticks. Of course, we don’t wish to scare anyone, but if we can save just one person from a life with Lyme disease, it will be a job well done!
One tiny tick bite can ruin our health, careers and relationships, whilst setting us back tens of thousands of pounds. Our aim is to ensure that others never have to walk in our shoes.
It can feel rewarding to know that sharing your story can help others. In 2022, patient member, Dan Duerden, was featured in many different publications including the Lancashire Telegraph and the Farmers Guardian.
Dan recently told us: “I had somebody the other day contact me to say they haven’t been well for a year, but they saw an article in the press about me, and it led to them discovering they have Lyme disease. Just goes to show.”
How to Share Your Patient Story
We understand that opening up to the public is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you feel you could share your story, please follow the three steps below.
- Write up your story
– Putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) can be empowering! Start with some key introductory details, such as where and when you were bitten. Describe anything you were doing at the time that may have put you at greater risk of a tick bite.
– Explain what Lyme disease is and how you came to be diagnosed. You may wish to extract some details from our diagnosis page, which explains why early diagnosis is crucial.
– Explain the effect living with Lyme disease has had on you as a person. How has your life changed since your diagnosis and what are your symptoms like on a day-to-day basis? What effect has the illness had on your friends and family?
– List any difficulties you’ve encountered accessing treatment. Try to bear in mind that treatment for Lyme disease is one of the most controversial subjects in medicine, and there are no universally-accepted treatment protocols.
– Explain the importance of taking precautions against being bitten by a tick.
– Add a line to explain that the charity Lyme Disease UK is running an annual awareness campaign and we are encouraging members of the public to take part via www.wakeuptolyme.com
– Choose some high resolution photos of yourself (at least 300 pixels per inch). It’s important for people to put a face to a name, and get a feel for you as a person!
2. Submit your story to the press and media
The ideal time to submit your story to the press and media is between 15th April and 10th May. This will help to ensure that your story is featured during May, which is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.
It’s possible to send an email to various newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV channels with your story and photos. You can find contact details for many of them here. If you can find out the name of a journalist, even better!
Fingers crossed you’ll hear back within a week or two, but if not then feel free to chase them up!
3. Share the link with us
Once your story has gone public, please share the link with us via email.
With your permission, we would love to share your story on our social media channels. If you’ve been featured on TV or radio, we can also add the recording to our YouTube library!
Thank you so much for thinking about sharing your story this year. We appreciate your support in taking Lyme Disease Awareness Month 2023 to the next level!