A WOMAN battling a chronic fatigue condition will take to the skies to raise money for a charity close to her heart.
For the past seven and a half years, Valerie Charlton from Malpas has been dealing with the neurological condition myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) which leaves its patients experiencing symptoms such as severe muscle pain and intense physical exhaustion.
On a normal day Valerie, 39, sleeps between 14 and 18 hours and even had to give up her job as a pharmaceutical rep because she was so physically drained.
But despite her prevalent condition, Valerie set herself the goal of doing a tandem skydive, 10,000 feet high, to raise money for the Action for ME charity after she returned from a healing trip to India and Sri Lanka this summer.
“The trip physically exhausted me but I came home with renewed fighting spirit and decided to do something out of my comfort zone to raise money for charity,” explained Valerie.
“I want to turn a negative situation into a positive one by raising awareness of this condition which many people don’t understand and give myself a goal to work towards.
“And of course I want to raise as much money as possible for Action for ME. My target is £1,000 and so far I have raised £650.”
Speaking about her illness, Valerie added: “There is no cure for it – some people recover and some people don't but there is no way to tell. I have bad days and better days, depending on how much sleep I get.
“I could do something one day when I'd usually be still sleeping, but the price I pay will be having to sleep and recover from it for nearly a week after.
“But I want to raise the charity a massive amount of money so they can continue their brilliant work.
“Even a small donation would mean the world to me and it all adds up if a lot of people donate what they can afford.”
Valerie will take to the skies on Saturday, October 6 in Whitchurch.
If you would like to sponsor her, visit www.justgiving.com and type in ‘Valerie Charlton’ to go straight to the page.
