Power
Our
Practitioners

Lily Schubert was just 16 when her life changed in an instant. She was diagnosed with severe ME/CFS, a condition that stole her youth and confined her to her bed for an unimaginable six years. The loneliness and darkness she experienced during this time are hard to fathom.

For those six years, Lily lived in a darkened room. Her days were spent in silence, too exhausted to speak, sometimes too weak to lift a glass of water. Her pain was relentless. Her fatigue was excruciating. Her brain felt like it was immersed in a thick, inescapable fog. Even light and sound became unbearable. She existed in a waking nightmare and life moved on without her.

In a world where many with ME/CFS, long COVID, and related conditions face scepticism and misunderstanding, Lily was fortunate to eventually find compassionate and informed clinicians who believed in her and fought for her recovery. Most don’t ever get the care they need. Many never find a doctor who understands. Lily did.

She eventually connected with clinicians who listened. It took a long time and a lot of patience and medical skill, but Lily began to stabilise. She very slowly started to return to the world.

On her first steps outside, after six years indoors, she stepped into the sunlight. After being given a prognosis with no real hope of improvement, Lily’s feet touched the grass and her skin felt the sun. The raw relief was overpowering, she never thought she’d get there. 

Lily has made significant progress, but she still lives with a debilitating condition. ME continues to limit her life in fundamental ways. Her health is fragile, her energy is finite, and her capacity is unpredictable. Even so, this cause matters deeply to her, and she’s choosing to use some of the energy she has to lend her voice as an ambassador with Emerge Australia, for those who can’t.

Too often, patients with ME/CFS are required to educate their doctors. We want to change this.

With your support, we can train more general practitioners in evidence-based care for ME/CFS and related conditions. It costs $400 to educate one GP, one professional who can go on to support countless patients like Lily.

This is what your donation does. It builds a system where no one has to face these illnesses alone or unseen.

We’re not asking for miracles. Just better care. Real care.

Help us Power Our Practitioners, because the right care can change everything.