Lyme Disease Is a Long Journey for Far Too Many

By Lauryn Russell

On October 16, 2023, Lauryn Russell shared her story in front of a crowd of Lyme disease supporters in Chicago, IL during the Hope, Healing, and Purpose with Kim Strother event. Here is her speech:

Hello everyone, and thank you so much for joining us this morning. My name is Lauryn Russell, and I would like to welcome you to the Project Lyme / ILA event. 

Some of you may not know the history of the Illinois Lyme Association and how we got to be here today. The ILA was started up by my wonderful momma after she found out her daughter had Lyme disease. But there is a lot more to the story than just that: 

I became very sick. I was 7 years old. After school, when I got off the school bus, I became so fatigued, and my legs stopped working, causing me to collapse in the driveway. I was there until my mom came out and found me. From there, things just began to decline. My health started to fail me; I was experiencing every symptom you can possibly imagine.  

I was diagnosed with everything in the book, from just having a common cold to chronic fatigue syndrome. I was so ill that the doctors even thought I may have had leukemia.

It took 3 years for me to finally figure out what was wrong with me. Thanks to my wonderful doctor, she believed in me and knew the right tests to order, which came back positive for Lyme disease. I was in treatment for 4 years. After those 4 years, we went to Springfield to make change!

To date, 5 pieces of legislation have been passed almost completely unanimously!! The Lauryn Russell Lyme Disease Prevention and Protection Law allows doctors to treat outside CDC guidelines without losing their license, and we are one of the only  few states that has insurance coverage for state-regulated insurance plans!

I am now 18 years old, and I have dealt with this for 11 years now. Thankfully, I am doing very well, but many here in Illinois are not. They are really struggling to get better—many are losing their homes because treatment is not 10 days of antibiotics, and you're done. It’s a long journey for too many. 

Almost 500,000 are diagnosed in the US each year. That is why we need organizations like the Illinois Lyme Association and Project Lyme, the voice for those that are too ill. We started the Illinois Lyme Association right after I started to get better to raise awareness so that no one else had to go through what I did, and that is why we need supporters like all of you. 

So, it is very humbling to see you all here today with us. I want to thank all for coming here today, and enjoy your morning.