



Remember the worst illness you've ever had, or the sickest you have ever been. Maybe it was the flu, or gastro, shingles, bronchitis or a viral infection. Now remember your worst days with it, the bone crushing fatigue where you couldn't get out of bed, let alone shower, the pain, nausea and just feeling like you were "dying." You would do anything in those moments to feel better. You just want to be well again, to go back to work, play with your kids and not feel like you're stuck inside a living hell.



Now imagine that worst day, only now you never get better. You will wake up feeling like that every day, FOREVER. Months, years, even decades pass with little to no improvement. Your entire life revolves around surviving everyday, taking handfulls of medications and seeing Dr's to try and find answers. Only Dr's don't know what's wrong with you, so every treatment you try is a stab in the dark. Maybe one day, years later, you finally receive the correct diagnosis, but by then it's too late. Now the only option you're left, is to seek treatment overseas, before this illness takes your life.



That is what life is like for Ashleigh (in a nutshell). No one deserves to live like that. So we are crowd-funding to save her life and we hope you are able to help this once lively, determined young woman return to health so that she can live a full and happy life free of immense suffering. We are flying her to America on May 1st 2017 for life-saving treatment. Read on to hear more of her story or click "donate" now.







Ash has been sick since she was 16 years old. After recently celebrating her 28th Birthday, she is still fighting for her life, with a diagnosis of Chronic Late Stage Neurological Lyme Disease and multiple co-infections. Lyme Disease is a multi-systemic bacterial infection passed on through blood sucking insects, in-utero or blood transfusion. If left untreated, it becomes late stage and chronic, is incredibly difficult to treat and leaves a patient with severe, debilitating illness that can be fatal.



Unfortunately, the Australian government and medical community believe that Lyme Disease does not "exist" in Australia. Even with Lyme Disease being known to exist in countries Australian's holiday in frequently such as USA and Europe, there is still no training for doctors on how to recognise symptoms and treat it. If the disease is caught and treated early, the patient can make a full recovery.



Recently in the media, we have seen stars such as Yolanda Hadid, Avril Lavigne, Ashley Olsen, Ally Hilfiger, Kris Kristofferson and more share their stories of battling Lyme Disease. Avril Lavigne was quoted saying "I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying." Whilst Tommy Hilfiger's daughter Ally, who has since written a book about her horrific battle with the disease said in an interview "I was convinced that bugs were crawling in my body. I could feel them eating at my organs, my stomach, especially my brain."





BACKGROUND



Devastatingly, Ash was sick for 8 years and had seen dozens of doctors before being accurately diagnosed. She tested positive to Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme Disease) from reputable labs in both Germany and the USA. These tests cost between $1500 and $2500 EACH. Going so long without proper treatment has created significant damage to all tissues and systems in her body, including her brain, heart, nervous system and digestive system.







Ash suffers daily with: debilitating fatigue that often makes it difficult for her to complete basic tasks such as shower and prepare food (let alone do anything "normal" like leave the house), nausea, bone and muscle pain (like you've run a marathon the day before or your bones are being drilled into), headaches, memory loss (e.g. she can't remember what she did yesterday or something she just said), difficulty holding conversations or interpreting what someone is saying, inability to multi-task (like speaking to her whilst the tv is on), depression, suicidal thoughts and urges, muscle tremors, air hunger (like holding your breath under water for too long and feeling like you're suffocating, only she never gets to come up for air), she gets incredibly fatigued from having to concentrate, think, be upright or basically "function" and so much more.



Ash even spent 2 years bedridden relying on carers and her parents to shower her, cook, clean, monitor her medications and take her to doctors appointments. Can you imagine being 23 years old and having people wash you and care for you like a child? She was unable to sit, stand, hold a conversation, or watch tv and was lucky to leave her house once every 3 months in a wheelchair. Her level of suffering has been so dire that she has made multiple suicide attempts after being told by Australian Dr's that her body is "too ill and toxic to cope with treatment" and they don't know how to help her.



Her treatment costs sit at around $600 a week, with no improvement seen for the last 18 months and frequent relapses that cause grave concern.





So what are our options now? Ash and her parents have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last 8 years seeking answers in Australia and trying any treatment options they could find (some costing upwards of $5,000 at a time). From GcMAF, to long term antibiotic therapies, Nexavir, Kinesiology and holistic treatments, countless medications, skyping overseas specialists, herbs and supplements and more. She has a brilliant team of Dr's doing what they can for her, but their resources and knowledge are limited and Ash's case has been deemed incredibly complex. We have been left with no option, but to seek life-saving treatment for her, at an overseas clinic that deals with such complex cases. One of her Dr's even had Lyme Disease and cured himself. He is urging Ash to seek overseas treatment after doing all that he can for her and she still cannot recover.



THE HANSA CENTER, KANSAS USA.





After extensively researching various clinics, speaking comprehensively with past patients and understanding treatment protocols, we believe the Hansa Center in Wichita Kansas, USA to be the best shot at saving her life.



The Hansa Center, established in 1995 states "we see many chronically ill patients and have a high success rate. Our doctors use a variety of treatment methods and custom tailor a treatment program to address each patient’s very specific needs. Our initiative of 'treating the whole person' has resulted in thousands of success stories."



The clinic has reviewed Ash's case and given us a breakdown of her treatment and costs:

TRIP ONE



4 weeks worth of treatment, requiring a 5 week stay for jetlag, coming off medications and recovering enough to travel home. (All in AUD)



$4,000 - Flights (for Ash and myself) including flights to L.A and two connecting flights to get to Wichita Kansas.

$4,070 - Accommodation for 5 weeks

$500 - Clinic Deposit

$300 - Lab Fee

$25,800 - 4 Weeks of treatment, 5 days a week for 6 hours a day

$1,200 - Medication needed to take home

$5,000 - Food, internet, public transport, passports, visas, 6 weeks worth of medications to take on the trip, sim cards for mobiles, insurance, unforeseen travel costs, etc.



Total: $40,870.



TRIP TWO



Needed 3-6months after initial visit to check progress and make adjustments. An estimated 5 days worth of treatment needed, requiring a 10-14 day stay. (All in AUD)



$4,000 - Flights

$1,500 - Accomodation

$8,250 - Treatment

$1,200+ - Medication needed to take home

$2,500 - Food, internet, travel expenses etc



Total: minimum $17,450



OVERALL MINIMUM TOTAL: $58,320



Please hit that Donate button and help us out if you can, any amount big or small makes a difference.



SO WHO IS ASH?



Those that know Ash, will talk of her vivacious, friendly and loving nature. She can talk to anyone and make people instantly feel comfortable in her presence. As an empath, she's incredibly sensitive and therefore always helping others and putting their needs before her own.



Ash also has a great sense of humour with a positive and optimistic attitude. She's the friend you turn to for honest advice and her closest friends have described her as "genuine and loving with a beautiful energy."





Being sick has certainly taken away a lot of that "spark" that we all love so much and I feel it most on her bad days. Lying on the couch hooked up to her oxygen machine, she has a glazed, lifeless look to her that breaks my heart; her skin grey in colour as she gasps for air and is unable to hold a conversation, let alone with any enthusiasm or emotion. She struggles to eat or shower and often cries in my arms out of frustration and sheer desperation to feel better. No one see's this side to her. No one understands how bad and how scary it truly gets when all you see is smiling photographs or Ash on her "good days" when she can make it out of the house or have a visitor.



Not only is she a wonderful human being, she is incredibly intelligent with huge potential. With an IQ of over 120, Dux and Honours student of her High School and completing her Bachelor's Degree at only 5% health, what she has been able to achieve despite being so seriously ill is a testament as to why we need her to get well. She's also an incredible baker (www.facebook.com/pureperfectionnaturaldesserts), pianist (receiving Honours for Classical and Contemporary piano exams), writer and much more. Imagine what she could achieve and contribute to our society with full health.



Ash has dreams of returning to study, travelling the world, pursuing a career, having children and helping others in any way she can. She's stubborn and determined and will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals.





Please help save our gorgeous girl and let her live the life she deserves by donating (any amount big or small makes a difference) and sharing this post. You can help raise an additional $30 by simply sharing this page on your social media! Also, if you have any connections for local media coverage, be that social media, blogs, newspapers, radio, tv etc., that may help Ash's story reach a wider audience, please get in touch. Sharing this with your friends on social media, is what will help us crowd-fund her treatment the most. If we raise just $10,000 more, she will get the treatment she needs.



Thank you for your support.



With love and gratitude,



Simon.





If you wish to understand more about Lyme Disease click here:



http://www.lymedisease.org.au/about-lyme-disease-2/

http://www.lymedisease.org.au/about-lyme-disease/late-stage-lyme-disease/



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