"There's Something About Sarah"

"The advert was deemed to distressed to be broadcast"


There's Something About Sarah - Chapter One

So there I was. Stepped off the train from my daily commute to and from Queens Park and Glasgow Central Station, albeit at the weekend, working overtime.

Since the train was lengthier than normal (due to a certain Take That gig at Hampden Park that evening), one alighted the train at a part of the platform I rarely have navigated before.

And that’s where and when it struck me and prompted this post. 15.27 pm, Saturday 20th June 2009 to be precise.



Hang on a minute. I actually know the person featured on this poster. Blimey. How did that happen – what’s the story?

A billboard that normally is posted with adverts for fizzy drinks and all sorts of various advertising shite-ola.

My journey home (2 min walk) continued as usual, but I was understandably most perplexed. So I did what I would normally do, and logged onto the web for informationz.

The person in question was none other than Ms. Sarah Ezekiel, an individual I have had contact with via PatientsLikeMe, Facebook, and now, email.

But just who is Ms. Sarah Ezekiel readers of this post may ask. Previous post on McBlawg here.

Sarah is an extremely active individual who other than looking after her two children (Eric now 9 and Aviva, 12 years old) campaigns tirelessly in terms of raising awareness about Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Chapter Two

When I got into my flat and logged onto the web, and specifially, PatientsLikeMe - ALS, a theme was clearly already well under construction.



"Have to post this photo taken by my carer in Tottenham Court Road tube station! The irony is that I may never see it because London Transport isn't very accessible for wheelchair users..." Sarah Ezekiel - Jun 13, 2009 04:26PM

Chapter Three

"Our Sarah's Story awareness campaign is being promoted on national billboard space for two weeks, thanks to the generous support of CBS Outdoor media.

The poster campaign aims to raise awareness of MND and encourage visitors to www.sarahsstory.org.uk

The campaign will run for two weeks from 15 June. This means that the second week coincides with our MND Awareness Week (20 – 28 June).

There will be 48 sheet posters on 18 London Underground poster sites in zone one and over 80 mainline railway station sites right across England, Wales and Scotland.

This is the first time that the MND Association and MND Scotland have developed a joint awareness campaign".

LATEST: Some posters will remain at stations. View the Sarah's Story mainline poster sites beyond 28 June (13 kb) London Underground poster sites beyond 28 June (9 kb)

Chapter Four

In January, I placed a link to the video, Sarah's Story on FriendFeed. On 23rd June, I updated that entry to alert people to the fact that I was writing another blog post about it and asked people to consider leaving a comment. Follows the interesting discussion that took place.



Here is the poster in question (click to enlarge):-



As displayed in the above FriendFeed thread, the poster, the media and over the internet, the video has evoked wide ranging reactions.

Sarah has now created her own website and blog (coming soon).

Finally, I would like to publicly thank Sarah for her assitance in composing this post and for her continued role as an active patient advocate in the field of MND.

"Sarah's Story" - Raising Awareness of Motor Neurone Disease

Most days, I read the ALSTDI and PatientsLikeMe (PLM) ALS Forums and have done so for several years now. Why do I do this? I'll get to that later.

This morning, I came across a particular thread on PLM-ALS which rather struck me. Contained within it, are a few links including the one where I found, watched and read about Sarah's Story via the Motor Neurone Disease Association website.

After watching it a few times, I placed a link to the video at the Life Scientists room over at FriendFeed and left a comment at PLM to this effect.

Since you need to be a (free) registered member of PLM to access the Forum in question, I can't provide a link to the start of the thread. It reads:-

Hello All

I thought you might like to be aware that this afternoon the MND Association has just launched the first ever UK broadcast advert created to raise awareness of MND.

‘Sarah's Story' is our new awareness-raising campaign of the same name which we will roll out during 2009. The advert is currently being shown at over 50 independent cinemas across England and Wales.

Our hard-hitting advert features Sarah Ezekiel and after whom the campaign has been named, who of course is a regular contributor to patientslikeme. The film is intended to convey the emotional and physical impact of receiving a diagnosis of MND.

The 90-second film tells the story of a young woman who is suddenly ‘attacked' by MND. An actress plays the part of Sarah and as her body deteriorates, the actress's head is superimposed on the body of Sarah.

Its hard-hitting style is likely to shock some audiences. The aim is to stimulate viewers' curiosity to find out how they can help fight back against MND.

Our film has been created at virtually no cost to the MND Association, with extensive free support from within the advertising and film industries.

More information about the Sarah's Story campaign is at: www.sarahsstory.org.uk
More information about the campaign including details of when and where the advert will be screened can be found at:
www.mndassociation.org/sarahsstory

Very best wishes
Sarah

MND Association

Whilst I don't know Sarah Ezekiel per se, I am aware of her, have had contact with her, and am certainly aware of her background and tireless activity as a Patient Advocate in terms of ALS/MND.

(I've blogged about ALS/MND previously here and here).

As a Patient Advocate myself with a genuine interest and now involvement in research in fields of this nature, I was particularly moved by this short film and wanted to help in whatever capacity I could.

PLEASE WATCH THIS IF YOU CAN SPARE TWO MINUTES OF YOUR TIME



"The Making of Sarah's Story" also fully deserves a watch too.

"The MND Association, creatives, actresses and crew discuss the rationale behind the making of this powerful film. ..."


Watch The Making of Sarah's Story in Educational & How-To  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

A big big thank you to everyone involved in this.