Originally posted on my old blog Sunday, 5 July 2009
“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 specifically, 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.
(UPDATE – Sarah is an active Twitter user and can be found at @sarahezekiel aka eyegazeartist)
Finally, I would like to publicly thank Sarah for her assistance in composing this post and for her continued role as an active patient advocate in the field of MND.
McBlawg 
Louisa said…