A DEESIDE couple continue to fight for those who are suffering with chronic pain.

David Williams, 50, of Connah’s Quay, started fundraising around three years ago after his wife Jackie was diagnosed with fibromyalgia - and Rock off Fibro was born.

Fibromyalgia is a lifelong, incurable condition that causes constant pain throughout the body and the initial idea was to raise funds to open a health centre in Deeside to help those with the condition.

Progress was made in setting up a centre, however, the building was subsequently taken over by the NHS.

David explained: “Originally raising funds for a health centre in Deeside, we had got that going but it stopped, the NHS took the centre over. We are now going to start to either raise funds for the Walton Centre or look at donating to other good causes related to fibro. We can help pay for these people that need specialist treatment.

“We were gutted over not being able to continue the health centre. It’s really sad because we were up and running and we were so close. It’s been a knock, but we will get back up.”

Two years ago, David had the idea to create a CD to raise awareness of the condition, and that has since been released to HMV stores.

He added: “It’s been a whirlwind to be honest. We’ve held five concerts over the past three years and two years ago we were looking at doing a CD single that was going to include people with the condition and that just spiralled. Different bands came along asking if they could be part of it and we ended up with 36.

The Leader:

“All of them took part for free and the tracks have not been released before they are a special remix version. It’s a one-off album.

“Some have had chart success in the past and some are quite well known, they have their names out there. We’ve done it as two sides, a light and dark side which reflects the illness. We have the dark music for the bad days and the lighter upbeat music for the good days.”

Jackie was a keen athlete but now requires constant care, which led David to give up his job to look after her.

She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after getting a pain in her ankle which spread through her body.

The pair have organised a variety of charity events to raise funds and awareness of the cause, which can cause other struggles such as PTSD and depression.

David told the Leader: “We are going to keep doing events to raise funds and awareness.

“Seeing someone you love with the condition is soul destroying. You’re seeing someone you love essentially be broken up. They have gone from being super fit and active not being bed bound it’s heart-breaking, but you have to keep smiling. You can’t let it get you down.

“Since we started the Rock off Fibro name, we are getting a lot more recognition. People are wearing our tops and it generated that conversation. It’s amazing the amount of people coming to us to speak about it and tell us that no-one believed them. It’s nice to see that recognition there.

“With the CD going in HMV shops, especially Chester first, so many people contacted me from all over the world and they are amazed we have got that recognition.

“I’d like to thank HMV, we had the CD online, but it was hard to get people to talk about it. It’s gone crazy.

“I’d also like to thank Mecca for allowing us to host darts nights there.

“We are doing this for everyone with the condition. Never give up.”