To Ricky from Diana – a tale of brotherly love  

A tale of brotherly love features in this nomination for someone to receive a hamper in our great Christmas give-a-away.   

Diana Hauber has asked for her brother Ricky to receive one of our 100 hampers crammed with seasonal treats because “he makes my life easier”.   

She became ill with M.E. in 2017 and have to give up work that year, although she remembers trying to “soldier on” with life as best she could. 

“Ricky has enabled me to make some progress in my condition, and to have a better quality of life. He got me a wheelchair so that I could go out, and he pushes me around. He takes me to all my medical appointments.”   

Diana and Ricky live at the same address in Fulwell, Sunderland. The holiday snaps were all taken in the years just before she became ill.

It was Ricky who put his sister in touch with the ME Association and with the old ME Trust to begin with.  The magic continued while she began to learn how to live with the illness.   

“Ricky found me a specialist ME naturopath who has helped me. He found me a new GP surgery when the one I was at did not seem to believe that ME exists. He sorted out all the paperwork necessary so that I could get some benefits – enabling me to manage financially when I had to give up work.   

“Buying birthday presents for my friends, getting me books from the library, etc. Any most things. He makes my life easier.”   

Looking back on her life, Diana said: “With hindsight, I had M.E. to a lesser degree for many years. From around the age of 18, I always got tired earlier than my friends. 

“While at university, my friends would be out until the small hours but I would be on the last bus home as I was always exhausted.  The doctors always said me the standard tests were clear and they told me I was fine. I just carried on.”