My name is Sophie Ward.. for many years, I was lost with no home. My body was my enemy and my mind was my demon. I felt so poorly, so weak but no doctor or consultant could offer me an answer for my pain. Only that I was crazy. My health continued to decline and I feared death, in fact there were a few brushes with death. There were times when I felt it was and could be the end. It took a long nine years, but I was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease. A disease I had never really heard of before, but I did my research and realised the scary reality that it was a long road ahead and a lifetime battle. At this point you can allow yourself to give up or be positive and fight back. Not just for your own good health and wellbeing but for others too. I wanted to protect and save lives from the hell I go through every day. I want to be a positive role model, to inspire people to fight chronic disease and illness head on and always chase your dreams. We deserve our dreams and so we should never give up on ourselves and our goals. You must learn to make friends with your enemies, so you can understand and work with them more effectively and this takes some time. Our lives don’t always go to plan and we aren’t immune from tragedy and pain, but we do have a choice about how we take on the fight. This isn’t just about Lyme Disease, it is about making the best of life and the cards we have been dealt. It is hopefully a dose of motivation that we can always achieve our dreams no matter what. This is the beginning of my story.