For the last two years Maia has been bedridden, unable to do the things she loves, draw, read, listen to music, go out and enjoy nature, spend time with and talk to family and friends and making plans for her future or work. Maia has chronic Lyme disease with co-infections, likely contracted in her teenage years and reactivated by a Covid infection, causing a weakening of her immune system. This debilitating disease is caused by the bite of an infected tick and if you are lucky, a bull’s eye rash develops, allowing for tests to be carried out and immediate treatment to be administered. However, sometimes there is no rash and unexplained symptoms develop over time until the disease becomes chronic and increasingly difficult to treat. Many doctors are unaware of the devastating nature of the infection as it settles in the body, wreaking havoc and causing painful symptoms and doctors will only treat those, not addressing the root of the problem. The long-term nature of this affliction and the lack of education and awareness by the larger medical community means that only Lyme literate doctors, mostly in private medical care, understand and can treat it, but at a high cost. So far, Maia has been lucky, part of her IV antibiotic treatment has been funded, and we need your help and generosity to continue. We pledge that any money not used will go to the Lyme Disease UK charity. Please donate and/or share.

Thank you, warmly.

Hélène, Jason, Jake and Tristan.