August 8th is Severe ME Day. It is a day of awareness raising for those suffering severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis as well as a day of remembrance. August 8th was the birthday of Sophia Mirza, a 32 year-old woman who died of ME.

One way you can participate and raise awareness for Severe ME Day is to join the Silence Challenge which is being conducted by The 25% ME Group.

To participate you are challenged to remain silent for 24 hours! It can be done any day in August if you cannot participate on the 8th. You can ask people to donate to benefit the 25% Severe ME group. You can also share a photo on Silence Challenge for Severe M.E.​ or twitter with #silencechallengeforsevereME .

From the Silence Challenge donation page: [pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The Silence Challenge for Severe M.E. was Amanda [Hendrie]’s idea. She is completely bed bound and unable to eat or drink anything, fed by a tube, laying in the dark, suffering severe symptoms… looked after 24/7 by carers. She has also lost the ability to speak or move her facial muscles. So for Severe M.E. day she has challenged her carers and us to 24 hours no talking!”[/pullquote]

NOTE: If you are looking for resources on living with, or caring for, those with severe ME you can find some here and here.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Barray