I was diagnosed with JIA at 18 months old. I don't remember very much about this time of my life so mainly relive these stories through my mother. However, when I was in my mid 20's I had a pretty bad arthritis and uveitis flare up. This left me feeling very lost and lead me to wanted to learn more about my condition and find a community so I didn't feel so alone. I went on to make a YouTube video about the Uveitis as I couldn't find anything helpful online and wanted to share me story. This video absolutely blew up within the community and was found by a wonderful women who worked for the young people and family service at Versus Arthritis. She got in touch and I came on board to work as a volunteer a few months later. Volunteering at VA changed the way I viewed my health and allowed me to build the most wonderful community and feel so supported.

Since then I have been on a variety of medication and have now got my arthritis very much under control again. I have now taken up exercise as one of my main hobbies and have been documenting this through my social media platforms. I think running the marathon would be the most amazing way to give back to Versus Arthritis as without the charity I may not even be able to exercise as much as I am able to today.

Volunteering at VA also helped me to get my job at Arthr and is another one of the many reasons I am so so grateful to the charity!