I’m currently in the process of updating some resources and redesigning my blog so please bear with me. 

I’m a chronic illness blogger and part-time journalist based in London.

Here you’ll find what is, essentially, a collection of the type of content that I wish I’d seen when I was first diagnosed, when I desperately needed to know that a chronic illness didn’t mean that my life was over.

Over the next few months, you’ll find posts where I work with experts to create resources on the basics of managing aspects of chronic illness, on issues such as understanding pacing, exercise (coming very soon), chronic pain, and learning to adapt and come to terms with a new normal.

I’ll also be interviewing some of my favourite creators about how they manage to work and build careers, profile brands doing awesome things in the disability space (including inclusive fashion), and I’m hoping to start doing some deep-dive reviews into different products that may helps others make informed decisions.

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Keeping myself busy and distracted has been a constant theme in my life, and finding ways to work and do, even when I was stuck in bed, has always been one of my main priorities. When I was younger, I used to try and ignore my health and just ‘keep going’. This would result in weeks or months of sick leave, and I had to leave the vast majority of my jobs because of my health.

I hold an undergraduate degree in International Relations, but had to drop out of my Masters programme twice for health reasons.

I’ve had the opportunity to work for some amazing companies and charities over the years, but as I became unable to work in ‘traditional’ ways, I tried to start projects in bed to keep me occupied.

During one, I created an international youth writing and journalism platform, which won me a trip to India to meet Richard Branson with the Virgin Media Pioneers. Out of this came Libyan Youth Voices, a project that I co-founded with the amazing Ayat Mneina, which was the first online project for young people involved in the Libyan revolution to tell their stories, and received international recognition.

I’m now a journalist for BBC Stories, working part-time from home. I initially focussed predominantly on women’s health and disability, but over the last few months I have branched out into international stories, which I love.

I’m a collector of vaguely obnoxious do-gooder titles: I’m a Global Changemaker, and was one of the UK representatives at the African Youth Forum in Cape Town, and a Rhize Emerging Catalyst. In 2019 I was absolutely over the moon to be named one of the 100 most influential disabled people by Shaw Trust.

I’m passionate about working with and speaking to organisations about inclusion for people living with invisible illnesses in the workplace and beyond, and providing support to people living with long-term health conditions.

Quick Medical Stuff

My mum likes to tell the story of when I was pretty young. I was sitting on her lap on the swing and my knee just moved under her hand. As I got a bit older, dislocating my knee was my party trick. However, when I was about 9, I started suffering from severe pain in my knees, neck, and back, and spent my pre-teen and teenage years dealing with acute injuries, and fighting with the school nurse who just thought I was trying to get out of PE because I was lazy.

At 21, I happened to see a new physiotherapist because mine was on holiday. She recognised my symptoms, and recommended I see a consultant. We’d never thought that I had a ‘thing’ that required answers. We always thought I was just made a bit differently. But I took her advice, saw a consultant, and got diagnosed  with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type III, a connective tissue disorder. All my symptoms suddenly made sense.

I consider EDS to be my ‘trunk’ condition, and have other ‘branch’ conditions that come off of it that have impacted me varying amounts, especially through my 20s.

In 2012 I was diagnosed with PoTS (orthostatic intolerance) and in 2013 Histamine Intolerance. These were particularly disabling for a few years, and during that time I (now rather mortifyingly) dabbled pretty damn hard in Wellness in a desperate attempt to ‘heal’ myself. You will now find me writing about the dangers of this in the chronic illness community. Luckily these issues have now calmed down significantly and are much more manageable on a day-to-day basis.

In 2015 I was diagnosed with ME/CFS, and the symptoms from this are probably what still impact me the most. I also have PMDD, and last year, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism which is very easily managed with medication and has made a significant difference to my quality of life.