Almost one year ago I ended up in hospital for ten days. I woke up one morning and found that I had come out in a full body rash and my right foot and leg were so swollen I couldn't walk without assistance. I had never experienced pain like that in my life, nor had I ever felt so scared. 

After 10 days of being confused and running tests the doctors were able to conclude that I had psoriatic arthritis, which is a type of progressive arthritis very similar to rheumatoid arthritis but it also comes coupled with psoriasis, the skin disease. I had never had any symptoms of arthritis or a skin condition before and neither conditions run in my family so I was a bit of a medical mystery. 

After I got discharged from hospital it took me ten weeks to be able to walk again without the assistance of crutches. A lot of my time in those ten weeks I spent in the house as if I was out and about I needed a wheelchair because I tired quickly on the crutches and my body was weak. I didn't like going out, I felt as though people were staring; staring at my skin, staring at the wheelchair. There were times when I thought I would never recover and I was skeptical if I would ever walk again, or lead a normal life or travel the world like I had always hoped.

I could never have coped in those weeks without my wonderful family. My mum looked after me and had to help me do even the most basic daily living tasks, even taking a shower independently was difficult. She forced me to eat, when I wasn't hungry, to keep my strength up and let me watch as much rubbish day time TV as I wanted. The rest of my family were amazing, my dad who held my hand when I cried about how unfair this was and reassured me that everything would be OK, even though I didn't believe it at the time. And who can forget the Penmans who visited me everyday in hospital and then checked in everyday when I went home.   

My rheumatologist and dermatologist started me off on an aggressive dose of methotrexate, and within three months my skin was starting to clear and my joints were becoming less swollen and painful. Within six months I was back to work full time and feeling quite normal again. 

A year later I'm lucky enough to say that the disease does affect my life day to day, but not in a huge overwhelming way. Sometimes I feel lethargic, or I might wake up in the morning with a sore hand and wrist or sometimes my skin will be a little bit dry. 

I am one of the lucky ones. 

There are thousands of people across the UK that suffer from hundreds of different forms of arthritis and not all are as lucky as me to respond incredibly to the medications that are out there. That is why we need to raise funds and support Arthritis UK in their research to find out more about the causes of Arthritis but also further treatments and hopefully one day a cure. On top of that Arthritis Research work tirelessly to support arthritis sufferers by providing advice around how to live with this disease with as little suffering as possible.

To mark one year since my diagnosis, celebrate my progress and raise awareness of arthritis, my brother Robbie, his girlfriend Emma (who also suffers from arthritis - ankylosing spondylitis) and my best friend Beth and I are going to be doing a tandem skydive on the 20th November to raise funds for this brilliant charity. 

Please support me, my story and all the suffers of arthritis by donating to the cause! I want to raise awareness of Arthritis so that the common misconception that it's a disease that only old people suffer from can be forgotten. People of all ages, genders, colour, religions suffer from arthritis, it does not discriminate. It can be a painful, life crippling and constricting disease that a lot of people across the UK find extremely difficult to live with on a day to day basis. The more money we raise the more research can be done to make people's lives better. 

Thank you everyone x