ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) is destroying the lives of 250,000 people in the UK

Imagine only having enough energy each day to choose between taking a shower or using the toilet.

Think about how painful it must be to be so exhausted that you cannot play with your son or daughter.

Picture your loved on unable to bathe, clothe or feed themselves.

This is the devastating reality of an incurable disease being faced by tens of thousands of people across the UK – an illness that barely gets any funding and that some people ignorantly refuse to accept as real.

ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) is destroying the lives of 250,000 people in the UK, including children and teenagers. Millions worldwide are affected.

One in four are so severely affected that they are rendered housebound or bedbound – others are considered lucky if they can work even a few hours a week.

Yet there remain vast misconceptions – even in medical circles – that ME is ‘made up’, ‘in the mind’ or even ‘laziness’.

This week is ME Awareness Week, and campaigning charities like the ME Association, are fighting harder than ever to bust apart these damaging misconceptions.

Chantelle Parry, 31, fell ill with glandular fever two years ago. The super-fit party animal loved to dance as much as she loved going out at weekends.

Now the Midlands mum to eight-year-old Alice can only dream about dancing.