WITH a welly on one foot and a high heel on the other, I stepped out of Tesco’s toilets swathed in a white boiler suit.

As I took up my place on the treadmill I thought how lucky I was that I couldn’t see the faces of the shoppers striding by because of the glasses blurring my vision.

They must have been laughing at me in my too-small gloves, my shoulders festooned in weights and stickers.

This was me wearing the symptom suit, an outfit designed by members of the Pembrokeshire Charity CWTCH.

I was taking on the ‘walk a mile in my shoes’ challenge CWTCH is inviting people to try, which gives a glimpse of what it is like to live with chronic illnesses.

The symptom suit, modelled by yours truly.

Back in October, I had a wonderful time laughing as Preseli-Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb took on the challenge of the symptom suit at the Cashfields Community Centre.

It was easy to sit back then, take a few photos and have a laugh at just how ridiculous it made him look.

I imagine this is much what Tesco customers must have thought when they saw me on the treadmill, attempting to walk a mile in the suit under the Christmas tree in the foyer.

But mere minutes – and a fraction of a kilometre – into my time on the treadmill, my neck was itching from the netted fabric in the collar, my arms and legs felt heavy and hard to lift from the weights strapped to them, and it was hard to keep a constant pace with a boot on one foot and a high heel on the other.

10 minute but only 180m: walking a mile in the shoes of someone with chronic illness proved tough.

“Many of our members feel at least some of these symptoms in combination,” said CWTCH chairman Barry John from the side lines, “we asked them all to come together and think about what things they live with they wanted others to experience.”

Chronic illnesses include chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis), arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and Crohn’s disease.

These long-term conditions can affect every waking minute of someone’s life.

What a sight.

Barry explained the itching on my neck was designed to simulate irritated skin, the weights to simulate how fatigue affects the body, and the different shoes to simulate balance issues.

It was amazing how what seemed like minor inconveniences at first soon began to take a toll on my stamina and strength.

After ten minutes on the treadmill at the best walking pace I could manage I don’t think I had made it more than a quarter of a kilometre – this was hardly walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

“Make sure you don’t push yourself too much,” Barry had warned at the start of the morning.

I had found it hard to believe a walking pace could be a push before I started, but every day people living with chronic illnesses have to make choices about simple activities the rest of us take for granted.

Keeping a consistent and swift pace proved difficult in the suit.

CWTCH Co-founder Beth Job said members of the group often have to remember to stop before they become fatigued or injure themselves.

“Sometimes you have to think – can I do the shopping as well as all the walking that goes with it? You have to remember to give yourself a break, to take care of yourself,” she said.

As I carried on with my slow but uneven pace, the glasses blurring my vision began to slip from my face and I could see clearly for a brief moment again.

Rather than noticing laughter from shoppers, one or two were keen to stop and speak to Barry and Beth and ask them about the work CWTCH does.

One woman – who had never heard of the charity – spoke at length with the two of them about her own experience of chronic illness.

“I think we might have a new member there,” said Beth. “Not everyone knows about us and what we can do to help them.”

Glasses simulate blurred vision and the book strapped to the head makes you concentrate on balance.

Only when I put my hand up to push my glasses back up did I notice another difficulty: the much-too-small gloves on my hands – simulating a lack of mobility – made it really hard to use them easily.

After 25 minutes on the treadmill, things were getting even more difficult.

My neck was now prickly and hot from the constant itching, my back had begun to hurt because of the different elevation in my feet, and the weights slung around my neck were feeling heavy.

People coming into Tesco Haverfordwest stopped to speak with CWTCH about the purpose of the suit.

It was hard not to hunch over with the strain of the weight on my shoulders.

Walking was doable, but not pleasant. I knew I needed to sit down soon for a rest.

After thirty minutes I stopped and took a seat. It had felt like a much longer walk than it was, but I had only managed 900 or so meters.

Not even a mile in the shoes of someone with a chronic illness, and it was hard enough.

Wearing the symptom suit was eye-opening, but I was glad I could step away from it and felt grateful I didn’t have to live through this experience every day.

I couldn’t imagine what it would be like waking up in the morning and not knowing if today was a good day, where I would be able to go about my life with only inconveniences, or a bad day, where getting out of bed was nigh-on impossible, all while living with constant strains and feelings niggling you with every move you make.

Barry John from CWTCH helps to remove parts of the suit.

CWTCH is currently planning to visit workplaces and schools with the symptom suit to raise awareness about chronic illnesses as part of its ‘walk a mile in my shoes’ campaign.

For more information visit the charity’s website: cwtch-pembrokeshire.wales