I wanted to hone in on a story of mine that was published in The i Paper last week, and ended up being the most-read story across the whole website (which is crazy when you think that includes national and global news).
The story, which looks at the debilitating impact of a B12 deficiency, is personal for me as over two years ago I was hospitalised for a week with symptoms including the inability to walk more than a few minutes, pins and needles in my hands and feet 24/7, a lack of cognitive function to the point I could barely open my laptop, and 10-plus other symptoms. My doctor was of no use, but thanks to a B12 support group I found plus self-injecting, I’m much better though many of the symptoms are low to mid-key still present and I do relapse at times (and in Costa Rica I needed a very expensive iron infusion).
I’ve wanted to spread awareness for a long time. That opportunity came when I was invited to a B12 parliamentary briefing last month, and which led to this piece.
The story came on the back of a doctor inviting me to the parliamentary briefing, which also shows the impact of inviting a journalist who has real-life experience of the subject matter, whether that’s an illness or disability, or just personal experience like adoption or fertility setbacks.
Knowing what I’ve been through – and continue to go through – and being on the FB group where I regularly read posts from people suffering to different degrees, I knew I needed to include key information such as typical B12 levels and the range of the symptoms. I also wanted to interview patients who felt like their doctor hadn’t listened, and then to showcase alternative ways to address the issue (eg flagging up NICE guidelines, a private doctor, a FB support group, and the ability to self-inject). Without talking about my own experience, I was still able to tap into my own experience and hopefully create a stronger article with some positive signposts.
I received lovely comments and DMs from people, and then seen people have found the support group, which will hopefully lead them to fight back against GPs and to find out how to self-inject.
PRs: When you’re working on a topic, is there a way to find a journalist with personal experience of the subject to either write a first-person piece or perhaps write a wider feature looking at the issue? That way you can work with a journalist who has more reason to enlighten people, and therefore work even harder to see that piece from pitch to publication as it's more than just another article for them.