My name is Sophie Ward, from Lancashire. I am 26 years old & suffer with Lyme Disease.

I have suffered with Lyme since I was 14 but was only diagnosed at the age of 23. It has turned my world, upside down. The disease is slowly killing me as it attacks my organs. I have become so grateful everyday & it has been my rocket fuel for my work. I blog about my personal journey. I host my Chronic But Iconic podcast channel, where I share chronic illness stories, I work for two charities Lyme Disease UK and Invisiyouth. Invisiyouth is a charity that support youths and young adult battling invisible illnesses find purpose in life again! Every important to me. I adore travel and always have. With my health declining rapidly, I haven’t been able to do as much in recent years as I would have liked. I went on a cruise last year and was catered for SO well! I had the best trip!! The sun is also the only thing that gives my body that dose of vitamins it needs to keep stable. At present no treatment really aids my health. This inspired me to go home and train to become an independent travel agent so I could get more chronic illness warriors out exploring the world and beyond their front door. This is important to me because sufferers often feel isolated, their lives not worth fighting for and I wanted to add that sparkle back for them but also ensure the carer’s and parents had fun too. So I trained and passed all my exams. I now book travel for a lot of chronic illness sufferers who before now thought they would NEVER travel again. I am managing to build up their confidence and give them a sense of life back. I also am now coaching others many chronic sufferers how to become agents themselves and earn an income from home, be their own boss & work their own hours around their health. Because treatments are EXPENSIVE & we can’t work a normal 9-5 job. My goal in all the work I do is to help create some form of life for myself but most importantly inspire others & empower them to do the same. I don’t just coach them on agent training however, I try to empower them to dig deeper and build up their self-worth, work our their self-development so they feel like themselves again but even stronger. Chronic illness is devastating & can seem like a life sentence for so many. My aim is to add the sparkle & sunshine back into their lives. Let them experience the world and happiness they have forgotten they deserve. Nothing makes me happier than seeing pictures of memories from a trip, seeing people grow their businesses & gain their sense of pride back. Hearing people can relate to my content & have gained value from it. I use my passions to feed my soul but also to drive my mission to help others. I never stop raising awareness for Lyme disease. Hosting charity events & lighting up landmarks like Blackpool tower to raise awareness. I give talks in schools and to businesses to educate them and have also had the pleasure of being interviewed on BBC Breakfast, Sky News and ITV North West Tonight. I adore all the work I do but becoming an independent agent has really ‘brought Sophie back to life’ I am feeding my passion, building up my own self-development and I am encouraging others to do the same. I hope to empower others that we should never dampen down our dreams. Never STOP dreaming & believe we can’t because of our health. I want to put the ‘I can!’ Back in people’s lives and see them glow again. Because we ALL deserve that.