WALKING up a driveway seems like a simple enough task, but for sufferers of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) - or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - it can feel like you've just run a marathon.
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In the worst case scenario of the disease, sufferers can be restricted to their bed for up to a year because getting out is too exhausting for them.
"It's as if multiple scelrosis and motor neurone disease had a baby together," Wagga resident Mikaela Tori said.
One of Miss Tori's family members suffers from ME/CFS and it has driven her to raise some awareness of the condition, from which an estimated 180,000 Australians suffer from. Tomorrow, Henwood Park's Football Club players will be playing four home games at Rawlings Park with blue hair to raise awareness of the illness and funds for research.
"(The family member) hasn't worked for three years as it's too exhausting and they can't cope with it physically," she said. "It's very hard to see them in pain all day when I know their potential."
While research has been conducted in the US and England, little has been done in Australia and the cause is still shrouded in mystery.
According to Miss Tori, her family member developed the illness after a chain-reaction of side effects from an antibiotic.
"It could take 20 years to recover, but then it could also just be constant management," she said. "I can't take away their pain or cure them, but doing this is a way I can help them and others who have ME/CFD," she said.
The club will also be running a barbecue, with the fund-raising taking part from 11am to 4pm.
