Public Who shall we nominate for the 2018 CNN Hero Award?

Jen Brea and the documentary Unrest is the most brave and heroic I ever seen. In the film Jen talking about "changing the world". Little did she and her husband know that they are doing so...

a candidate for the CNN Heroes Award is Nancy Klimas for the impact of research her team have had for ME/CFS and particularly for GWI. CNN's journalists are first on site in hotzones. The rest is telling itself...

Take care folks!

 

I changed my vote for Jen Brea as i agree that strategically its the best way to do it. How does the nomination process work? do lots of people nominate the best candidate and that alerts CNN, or does just one person nominate?

 

Also very good points @NelliePledge.

 

Ditto. Out of my three top choices - Alem, David and Jen - Jen Brea is by far the most likely to hit the spot with wider public appeal.

 

So very hard to choose; in the end I went with Jennifer Brea for the reasons given by others above - she is the most likely to appeal to the mainstream public. The closest runners-up for me were Alem Matthees and David Tuller. But everyone on that list is a hero in their own way.

 

I think it should be Alem. He is very ill but I also think that speaks volumes and perhaps David Tuller or Jen Brea could be his voice. Or both. David is working on PACE and Jen has the patient experience and a documentary and looks that are appeling to an audience. (We can't rule out what a pretty face brings to the table.)

 

Although I would love for it to be Alem, his health is the issue and of course whether he wants this or not. I think David Tuller or Jen Brea could be his voice. However, I think Jen has the education, patient experience, an award-winning documentary, and looks that appeal to a wide audience which cannot be ruled out. Audiences can also SEE what this has done to her, she is able to speak about it in terms audiences can understand, and she has the unwavering support of her husband which is a love story audiences want.

This would also shine a brighter light on her documentary and this would benefit patients when family, friends, workmates and those in the healthcare system are even more inclined to view it if she makes the top 10. Winning would be crazy great.

I voted for Alem, but support Jen Brea being our candidate.

 

I get the uncomfortable feeling I've not really expressed how much I think of David Tuller here, so to set the record straight here's my headline thoughts for my top 3:-

Alem Matthees: My instinctive first choice, because he has shown such courage and tenacity, and put his own health seriously at risk in the pursuance of exposing the PACE trial. Although there is still a long way to go, I'm sure history will show Alem to be the one who dislodged the first rock that eventually turned into an avalanche ... watch this space. Amazing chap.

David Tuller: What a star he is. He's got guts, savvy, knowledge, insights, brilliant journalist. Totally committed to our cause. He's like a dog with a bone, just doesn't let go. He's by far our best shot at continuing to expose the rubbish science, and the institutionalised prejudice that sustains those who still maintain it. David is great at just picking away a brick at a time, wherever there's a loose bit of cement, until one of these days this wall of ignorance and prejudice tumbles down.

Jen Brea: She is amazing. Talented, intelligent, beautiful, and totally tuned into what is needed to turn opinion round - public opinion, professional opinion, political opinion. And she not only knows what is needed, but has the not-inconsiderable skills to make it happen. She tackles the problem from a completely different and previously ignored perspective - helping normal people gain real insight and empathy into what the hell is going on; normal people for whom all the scientific rationalisation in the world will make not a jot of difference. Although I think all three people are truly and equally fantastic, Jen gets my vote because of the simple fact that if she wins, she will reach places the others likely could not.

 

By the way, I did nominate someone in the ME/CFS community in 2016 but they were not selected and I fault myself. My writing skills are seriously lacking.

They like a nice bio of the person and their work over several years but with simple personal writing skills, in your own words, and not overly professional.

I think someone who can take complicated information and write concisely and in layman terms is best. I used to enjoy Beth's work when MEAction first began but she had to stop due to her health. Much of what David Tuller and Cort Johnson write is lost on me, don't overestimate journalists and their ability to understand what is written about ME/CFS. If I remember they have an area for links to the nominee's personal sites. Jen Brea has her site http://www.jenniferbrea.com/ as well as a WIKI page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Brea (make sure it is updated) and you could even use her MEpedia page http://me-pedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Brea (which will also need to be up to date) and the page for Unrest. https://www.unrest.film/

It may be wise to assign different people sections. If someone is good at bios they can write this section. Someone else could take complicated research she has personally spoken about and write about this.

I know, I am quite bossy.

Her #MEAction site http://www.meaction.net/ and MEpedia. http://me-pedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_MEpedia

 

In terms of a "CNN hero" you are probably right.

This is Jens time of calling, in a year or two Unrest will have passed and it will be yesterday's news.

I have a feeling David's work will stand the the test of time but CNN like a story and Jen is more of a story.

 

I agree, but whilst today's news is current it can be extremely influential, and its effects persist long after it became history.

 

I agree.