We are delighted to announce that businesswoman, author and TV personality, Lara Asprey, has become an ambassador for Caudwell LymeCo Charity.
She is a dating and relationship expert and CEO & Founder of Asprey Introductions, a matchmaking and introduction agency. In 2018 she became the face of brand new dating show ‘The Ultimate Matchmaker’ now showing on UKTV.
Lara has a personal motivation behind supporting our charity.
Her brother Roy contracted Lyme while backpacking in India (where Lyme isn’t generally recognised) during a gap year in 2001. He woke up one morning with what he thought was a spider on him which he brushed off and thought nothing of, despite noticing a ring shaped rash. He didn’t get checked out until he started experiencing symptoms including extreme tiredness on his return to university.
Despite several blood tests, doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong with him. Roy is a member of Mensa with an IQ of 160, but his family noticed that he wasn’t as sharp as usual, and over the next few years while Roy was studying and starting his career he would often be in touch complaining about the extreme tiredness he was feeling.
Roy was finally diagnosed around 5-6 years ago after googling his symptoms and coming across Lyme disease. Remembering the “spider” all those years ago, suddenly everything fell into place and Roy got tested for Lyme. He had been suffering with the disease for ten years without diagnosis. Roy, now 37, works as a Management Consultant in Singapore and has seen many US doctors. He takes antibiotics and various medications but Lyme has had a massive knock on effect on his life.
Lara says:
“I know first-hand how debilitating Lyme disease can be, and what effect it can have on the individual and their family. There’s a huge amount of research that still needs to be done into effective treatment for this disease as well as making people aware of how Lyme can be contracted so people can be as vigilant as possible to understand how to protect themselves.
I’m delighted to be able to be an ambassador for the Caudwell LymeCo Charity. They are doing some groundbreaking work at the moment to elevate the amount of resources allocated to researching Lyme and are making huge strides in generating awareness for it.“
What is an ambassador?
Our ambassadors act as champions for Caudwell LymeCo, helping us to raise awareness of Lyme disease and the work of our charity with a wider audience, as well as supporting and contributing towards our fundraising efforts for Lyme research by promoting our campaigns and organising their own events.
Lara is keen to help us raise awareness of the disease, and support our fundraising towards research into Lyme disease.
We’re extremely grateful for her support, and look forward to working with her in 2020 and beyond.