A Salford University student has set her goal to raise more awareness for Fibromyalgia.
University student Charlotte Wilton, organised a charity gig at the university’s students union ‘Atmosphere Bar’ last Tuesday evening in support of the charity, Fibromyalgia Action UK (FMAUK).
Fibromyalgia affects around 1 in 25 people in the UK, and it is often very difficult to get a diagnosis, with symptoms varying from chronic, widespread pain, fatigue, headaches, cognitive problems and irritable bowel syndrome- depending on the individual.
The event, which lasted from 7pm-10pm, included performances from Emily Kennedy, Bad Mash, Fosbrook Seniors and many more throughout the night.
As well as musical acts, a raffle took place and this included prizes ranging from hampers to football tickets.
#JoinTheFight – Great event happening on Tuesday evening in #Salford at @SalfordAKB, organised by @CharlotteWil94 in aid of @fmauk. Please join if you can, and share with your networks! https://t.co/jzsFWH5n9p #Fibromyalgia @salfordsu @SalfordUni @SalfordCityFC pic.twitter.com/AaI990TkNk
— Simon Stones (@SimonRStones) November 19, 2017
Charlotte’s own battle with the illness inspired her to organise the event, where she managed to raise £86 for FMAUK.
The organisation is ran by volunteers, many of whom have Fibromyalgia themselves, and carries out important research into the illness in order to get people the diagnosis and treatment they deserve.
Charlotte said: “Fibromyalgia is not a well known disease, even though it affects a lot of people. It’s because you can’t see it, and you go to a doctors or hospital and they can’t see the bruises or the pain that is going on in your body, they just think its something physiological.”
Charlotte has coped with Fibromyalgia for most of her life, and said that there are now more children being diagnosed with it.
Despite this, she says that many doctors still put it down to “growing pains” and tend to disregard the illness all together.
She continued: ” At five years old you don’t know how real this sort of thing is and as you get older, you think ‘this isn’t getting any better’.”
Although some people can lead a fairly normal life with fibromyalgia, many end up relying on wheelchairs and crutches on a day to day basis.
“Everyone is likely to know someone with it, diagnosed or undiagnosed, it’s really bad for some people…it’s just knowing about it really.”
However, more people appear to be speaking out about the condition- in fact, singer, Lady Gaga spoke about her battle with Fibromyalgia in her recent documentary on Netflix.
For more information on fibromyalgia, click here.
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