Extraordinary LIVES
MY MOTHER MARGARET THOMSON
MY MOTHER endured the debilitating illness ME for 30 years and was determined to help other sufferers. She organised many training days for doctors in a local hospital and the community. She was brought up in Kirkconnell, a small, thriving mining village in south-west Scotland, where she met her future husband, Jim, at primary school. As teenagers, they were Sunday school teachers and sang in the church choir, which is when they realised they had fallen in love. They married when Margaret was 21 and I was born the year after, followed two years later by my brother Malcolm. In 1964, the family left the village where we had all been born and moved to Yorkshire, then Manchester and finally London. Margaret was determined to get more qualifications and studied English, shorthand and typing — not an easy task with two school-age children and a home to care for. She was delighted
to get a job as a secretary with the Co-op. It was this determination and the belief that anything was possible that she instilled in her children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Whenever she felt one of the family was needing support, or if one of us was getting a bit too big for our boots, she would say: ‘I’m calling a committee meeting!’ My brother and I would raise our eyebrows and ask: ‘What have we done now?’
When she contracted ME, little was known about this illness. Despite severe symptoms of chronic fatigue — some days she was unable to get out of bed — she researched the condition and set up MESH, the Enfield ME Self-Help group. Initially, the group comprised 12 members who met at our home. It touched many lives, providing information, help and support. Membership of MESH rose to more than 250, but running the group took its toll on her health and
Mum had to step back. Despite this, she remained passionate about searching for a treatment for ME and followed the debates in Parliament. This formidable lady with a heart of gold passed away after suffering a stroke, just 19 days before her 60th wedding anniversary. She is greatly missed by her family and the many ME sufferers she helped and inspired.
MARGARET THOMSON, born January 22, 1938; died March 1, 2019, aged 81.