Mike's Long Walk

[snowathlete]

My best friend, Mike Sutton, is one of the only people to have stuck by me through this illness. That alone means an awful lot to me, more than I can express. A lot of my friends from before I was ill, including many that I knew much longer than Mike, have done very little for me or even broken off contact all together. Most I have not heard from for a long time. But Mike goes out of his way for me, calls me up and emails me and asks how I am, and even comes to my house when he can even though he actually lives in Spain now. I am in the UK. So I love the guy.

But he isn't stopping there. To help raise awareness of ME and raise money for Invest in ME he is walking 214km of the Camino de Santiago del Compostela in May between the 8th and 20th. Good publicity for ME Awareness Day/Week.

You can read about it here on his blog where he will be posting updates throughout the year. Ultimately he intends to complete the entire 815km northern route in 4 visits over 2016/2017, so he's very serious about helping. He has already raised over £400 via his JustGiving site and reached a lot of people and he only launched earlier today. Well worth a quick read,http://mhsutton.me/im-going-for-a-walk/

 

[Snowdrop]

Good on Mike for being such a good friend. I'm glad for at least that good fortune for you.
I know people who have done that walk--what a great idea--will spread the word.

 

[ScottTriGuy]

Shared him on FB.

 

[adreno]

Good friend you have there.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@snowathlete What an awesome person and friend! Thank you for sharing this.

 

[hellytheelephant]

Thank God for those special friends who just get what we are going through. Go Mike!!

 

[barbc56]

This is such an uplifting and touching story that brings tears to my eyes. What an awesome friend you have. But I'm sure it goes both ways and you are also an awsome friend to him and he's stuck around long enough to realize what he's always known even before you were sick.

Unfortunately many don't have the empathy to understand that you are still you. Been there, done that.

A hug for you both and I'll be following your Mike's journey.

Barb

ETA i just donated, not a lot but want to add my support.

 

[snowathlete]

I have lost so many friends as a result of getting sick with ME. Most of my friends from school: gone. From college: gone. From work: gone. From social life: gone. It has shocked me because I got on well with a lot of people, had a lot of friends including good friends and I had helped a lot of people by being a good friend to them when they needed me.

I basically only have a handful of friends left from my old life and Mike is by far the best. I can honestly say that he is such a good friend that I am actually happy to have lost all the other fair-weather friends and to know that Mike is my true best friend. I didn't meet Mike until after I was married. I only wish I had met him before as then I could have had Mike as my best man instead of the guy who had the job back in 2007 who doesn't take my calls any more. The majority of my other friends are recent too and have ME and I value them a great deal too, most of you on here!

Thank you everyone for the comments, shared and even donations. Wow. I really appreciate that show of support. Mike has raised almost a thousand pounds so far in less than a day, blowing his original target out the water. I am sure he will set a new target and he will reach that too.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@snowathlete I have two friends who are like Mike and have stood with me through thick and thin throughout my illness. Neither have my same illness but one has epilepsy and one has lupus and both have suffered and are very empathic people. I have known both of them for about 6-7 years prior to getting married so they are long-term friends.

But I had friends from work that I believed were real friends and not a single one of them contacted me after I went on medical leave (yet all attended my wedding.) I was shocked to learn that none of my work relationships were real. But the two friends I mentioned above are like Mike and have gone above and beyond the call of duty and I can never thank them enough.

Thank God for all the "Mike's" of the world!

 

[sarah darwins]

@snowathlete - Joel, if you get fed up with Mike, can I have him? I think everyone needs a Mike!

 

[snowathlete]

@snowathlete - Joel, if you get fed up with Mike, can I have him? I think everyone needs a Mike!

Chances of me getting fed up are slim to none! But the good news is that Mike is everybody's friend, never met a person who didn't instantly take to him. Here he is on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mhsutton

He's just matched the first £1000 that people have donated, out of his own pocket! So we are now at £2000+ raised already.

 

[LisaGoddard]

This is so impressive! What a great friend. Just make sure he takes plenty of sunscreen! I love the website too - 'I'm going for a walk'...English understatement!
My husband would love to do the Compostela walk - a great idea to do it while raising money for ME.

 

[snowathlete]

Mike started his walk on Saturday. He did about 25km today in the blistering heat. He is dedicating each day to sufferer.

Please think about registering for him to dedicate a day to you. It just involves answering a few brief questions on his blog form (here is a direct link to the form) about life with the disease and you can send a photo of yourself if you want to (not mandatory) and the info goes up on his blog for the walk when he dedicates a day to you. http://mhsutton.me/mikeslongwalk-join-walk-home/

He's raised more than £2,500 so far for Invest in ME as well as all the awareness.

Thanks!

 

[Little Bluestem]

That's a really good friend!