Home among Strangers.

At the beginning of last year my mum sent me a news article from a newspaper. It was a piece on a group called UKCVFamily; a support group for Covid vaccine injured.

As many know, my condition was exacerbated following my first Pfizer vaccine. Along with this I’ve had a rapid deterioration of my physical ability along with tremors, spasms, horrendous joint pain, severe fatigue and cognitive decline. But I’ve gone through all this alone, feeling like I was the only one in the world going through it.

Then mum sent me that article and I found a home among the founders and members, all of whom have had severe health changes post vaccine.

Let me tell you a little about the group. They are from all walks of life, all parts of the country and of all ages. Despite this, every member plays a role in supporting the others with zoom socials, polls, discussions and meet ups. They run MP campaigns, talk with the media, share their really personal stories with the world and use what has happened to them to ensure those who also reacted are not alone.

But the group has grown bigger in the last year and their reach is vast. So vast in fact that they have worked tirelessly to get the recognition and help that those impacted deserve.

In July I went to Parliament with the founders and a few other members. We did a presentation about the group, its goals and shared our own stories, to the group. I, naturally, burst into tears after introducing myself. I hadn’t even started sharing my story yet.

But what happened when I met these wonderful people off the tube was I immediately felt at home among them. A group of strangers I’d only spoken to online and it was like I’d known them forever. A feeling I don’t think words can explain.

Bare in mind that I am a hyper vigilant person, I hate meeting new people and I generally avoid group settings like we all avoided any contact during the pandemic. I’m socially awkward, I pick up on the energy of everyone around me and it’s draining as fuck. I over-analyse, over-think and in turn I either become mute or just stick to one person like glue. Absolutely none of the above happened.

It was wonderful to finally feel at home among others who just get it. Don’t get me wrong, all of those around me, and strangers or old friends, have been absolutely bloody amazing. They’ve researched and we’ve grown together, we’ve learned together and their support has been both unwavering and instrumental in getting me this far. But imagine finding a group that live and breathe the same shit as you day in and day out and instead of letting it consume them they use it to help others. The whole point of sharing my blog was to help others, now I’m part of a group of over 1000 people who have chosen to do the same.

The group isn’t just the founders and volunteers; Though they are the public voice and the people who work tirelessly in the background on MP campaigns, media, getting UKCVFamily and its members core participant status in the COVID Enquiry and more besides. I’ve recently become a volunteer myself which has been greatly rewarding and I truly feel like I’m gaining a lot from giving back. But I realised that it’s every single members contribution that makes the group as powerful as it is.

I write my woes in a post when I am struggling with something particular. Within mere minutes there are floods of people, with the same or similar issues, offering support, help, guidance and advice. The group is not one person or one team of volunteers. It is absolutely everyone connected to it who contributes daily to lifting other members up when they don’t have the strength themselves. Even when they themselves are struggling.

I wanted to share with my readers this wonderful group and all its wonderful people. They are a huge part of my story that I wasn’t sure I could share with you all through fear of judgement or misunderstanding. But in fact if you’re reading this it means you’ve been supporting me for some time, (my blog reaches very few!) and I’d like to think I know you all well enough now to know you have the compassion to receive this part of my story too.