Petition to have "Lorraine" show an adequate feature on M.E. and not just an advert for the Lightning Process

http://www.itv.com/lorraine/health/me-support/

Please watch this feature and understand why we as M.E. sufferers feel that they should have and should still include a REAL M.E. sufferer in their programme instead of making light of the fact we should just go to to have "Lightning therapy" and get over it.

I have e-mailed her the following and would appreciate the names and locations of people backing this:

Dear Lorraine,

I am absolutely astounded after watching the section you did on M.E. that you chose someone that didn't depict the illness at all. Hardly anyone with M.E. could just walk into the Lightning process and be absolutely cured. You didn't show a true representation of the illness at all and I am writing you to ask you to give us that chance. As a sufferer talking on behalf of many sufferers who have also watched your clip and have been seriously disheartened by the inadequate feature I feel I need to make you hear our cries. Not all of us have the ability to write an e-mail (the brain fog) or be able to get to you in person, but I could, given the chance, to do this for all of us and REALLY explain how it is to live with M.E.

I am 22 years of age, and I am 23 on Friday, I will not be able to celebrate my birthday as many other people do because I have had to live with M.E. for the last six years. I was forced to drop out of school just before my a-levels, leaving with no qualifications. Gaining 6 stone in weight and being unable to move around my bedroom some days let alone my house. I have a supportive boyfriend and a supportive Mother but that isn't enough, as much as I love them they can't just get me through this as you've misinformed the nation by showing the woman undergoing the Lightning process. It is features like this that help people look down on us as having "yuppie flu" and that it's so easy to get over. You should have gotten a severe sufferer of the illness to be aired even for 5 minutes to show people an accurate representation and to let us have our say.

I will say that most of what Dr Hilary said was fairly true, but I totally and utterly resent the way you made light of our illness with the woman featured who was clearly not suffering from full blown M.E.

I will be gathering the signatures of all of the M.E. sufferers I know who feel you should give us a chance to have our say and I hope that you reply to this e-mail and give us a chance to show people what it's really like and how more needs to be done. No matter when or where, I will push myself to make the trip, for the sakes of thousands of sufferers affected by your feature.

Thank you for your time, you will be hearing from me again soon.

Caroline Murphy