Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011 Make a Change Promo Video Shoot $6000 Cash Prize

Just a quickie before I get back to work. Anand and Akmal of Hooha Asia interviewed me against the gorgeous backdrop of the Kepong Botanical Gardens during lunch just now. This was for a promo video that will be now up at the Hooha Asia website for the Putrajaya Night Marathon (PJNM). View promo video HERE.

In a nutshell, if you know someone who is in need, and for whom $6000 would make a difference in their life, and you are going run 10 km, 21 km or 42 km at the PJNM, you are eligible to participate in this 'reality' competition where you submit a 90 sec to 2 minute video that states who you are, why your friend should be given that $6000, and what change it will bring to their life. The public will vote on the best video and decide who gets the prize. 

I will be doing this for my bestie, who has to remain anonymous for now. I first met her when I was hospitalised at 24 years of age, for my own mystery illness. She was a patient too. My age. We hit it off. She has lupus (SLE) and I have a more rare autoimmune illness (Henoch Schonlein Purpura). For both, doctors don't know the causes. There is no known cure. In lupus, the body attacks itself, in some victims it is the skin, or kidneys, in others the joints, and for my friend, it is her skin, joints and her brain. Life expectancy ain't great. A few of my friends that I got to know while warded in hospital have already passed away. Too young to die....

It's been 12 years since that day she and I became friends and life has been good. I think we cherish so much more what we have because we don't know what tomorrow or next year will bring. She has two beautiful girls (6 and 3 years old) and a loving supportive husband. She is the most upbeat and optimistic person I know, and her zest for life is infectious, she is living life to the maximum, within the limitations her body puts on her. Unfortunately her disease is getting worse. Some days it is a superhuman effort to even get out of bed. The pain can be debilitating. Yet she goes on. She has a job to go to, and kids to take care of. Somehow she gets to work, gets through the day. And she even manages to smile. Very few people even realize she is ill, because she looks 'ok'. 

With the progression of her illness, the number of days she is bedridden has increased. The medication she needs to keep her alive is expensive, and she and her husband are struggling to make ends meet. When one is sick, the worst thing to have to worry about it where the money is going to come from to buy the medication to stay alive. She needs to be there for her girls. I wish she wouldn't have to worry about money. $6000 would supply her with that medication for a year. Medication that she must take to feel better.

If you are reading this, please vote for her. I'll be submitting my video clip too, and will post the link soon (UPDATE 28 August: Here's my video entry 'Make That Change for Grace's Friend'. Please vote ya!). In the meantime, view the PNM 2011 Reality Show Make A Change Promo Video HERE.

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xo Gracie