During Triple Giving November, every donation to Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) will go three times as far to advance critical ME/CFS and Long COVID research. All gifts are tripled through December 2, 2025, up to $500,000.
Meet Nicky: A Life Transformed by ME/CFS
Before ME/CFS, Nicky was always on the move — raising her children, volunteering, and giving back. She and her husband even opened their home to more than 20 foster children, creating a safe and loving space for each one.
“I loved holding many balls in the air and juggling it all,” Nicky recalls. “Seeing other people have fun and enjoy themselves always gave me much joy. We were basically living the Australian Dream.”
But everything changed for Nicky and her family when she became severely ill with ME/CFS.
“For years, I was bedbound for up to 24 hours a day. I couldn’t work, socialize or even shower independently. Often during work and school days, my food and drinks had to be placed next to me in bed, as I was too ill to get to the kitchen.”
Today, Nicky is still predominantly bed and housebound, but she’s grateful for each small improvement. “I can now cook the occasional meal, have dinner with my family, and help facilitate an online support group for other ME/CFS patients. About 1,800 steps a day in total is my current average and I need to use a wheelchair for the rest.
I am very grateful for the improvement, but still every time I do something fun or even a normal daily task, I often feel worse due to PEM. I constantly need to choose between my already limited options— for example, if I wash my hair, I can’t spend time with family or friends.
“Living with a disability, chronic or serious illness is hard. Living with an illness that robs you from almost every aspect of your life is extremely difficult. But doing so without the illness being recognized nor receiving the essential support that many other illnesses receive, is very cruel.”
ME/CFS is… Hear the Voices. Triple Your Impact.
Individuals around the world used their limited energy to complete the sentence “ME/CFS is…”
These voices reveal the harsh reality of living with this disease—the challenges, the losses, and the urgent need for change. Watch their stories.
Your support today helps bring hope to people like Nicky — and to hundreds of millions more around the world who are waiting for answers.
OMF also accepts gifts of stock, cryptocurrency, real estate and retirement assets.
Donate your appreciated stock directly to OMF and you can receive an immediate income-tax deduction for the fair market value of the securities on the date of transfer (even if you originally paid much less for them).