Emily Collingridge: a life reMEmbered …
Emily Rose Collingridge (17.04.1971~18.03.2012)
died just weeks before her 31st birthday on March 18, 2012, from heart complications. A senstive and shy child in the UK, her class contracted mumps when she was six. As the others returned to playground vigor, she endured multiple symptoms that were bewildering. She would often collapse at school and be bullied and, after she was wheelchair bound by age 14, finally got a diagnosis of M.E. She became active in a charity for children with M.E. and wrote a brochure for them that was a guide to the disability living allowance in her country (England). By age 21, she volunteered for another charity although she was, by then, bedbound. Getting so much more severe, she was hospitalized several times and needed constant care. By her mid-twenties, she had unexpected improvements. She was able to tolerate some light and could take a few steps with a walker. Understanding that “we were helpless in the face of a poorly understood and devastating illness”, Emily wrote a book, Severe ME/CFS: A Guide to Living. Her slight improvement was short-lived as she had to be tube-fed and could do nothing on her own. In 2008, she was featured in the book, Lost Voices and featured on the website of Stonebird. She leaves her parents and many from the severe ME community who appreciated her courage. (Source: Matthew J. Smith, Stonebird)