THE second episode of ME drama series has been released.

M.E. Myself and I was released last month. The episode tells the story of Rachel who has been left bed bound by myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

Although her body has weakened, her resolve to not be beaten by the illness has 'strengthened'.

Tom Ellis, of Prestatyn, directed and wrote the episode. It was launched on ME Awareness Day on May 12.

Tom, 30, said: "The response was huge. We hit over 4,000 views in 24-hours. Since then, views have continued to increased with the total past 6,000 views.

"We have also been inundated with messages of support from the ME community with people finding it an emotional but truthful watch."

Rhyl Journal:

Episode Two - M.E, Myself and I

Tom has suffered with ME for more than 18 years.

He said people sharing their own experiences in response to the show has been been 'truly heartwarming.'

"Our show doesn’t just aim to bring the North Wales community together with filmmaking, it hopes to inspire others to share their experiences with ME," he said.

"On the project, besides myself who is diagnosed with ME, we have Maliha, who serves as executive producer.

"She has been able to share her stories through the project. I know having a platform to be heard has helped her massively."

Releasing episode two on ME awareness day was deliberately done.

Tom added: "ME is often neglected in the public conversation, so it’s a month when hopefully the public at large will learn more about the illness and help us get our voices heard.

"With the majority of the population housebound [due to Covid-19], we do hope that it makes people more empathetic to the plight of hundreds of thousands in the UK, who were house bound prior to this outbreak and will continue to still be, long after the outbreak has been contained."

Tom was housebound for 13 years of his life during his teenage years.

"[Being housebound] isn’t too much of a shock to the system," he explained.

"Having ME does make contracting Covid-19 a greater risk, but my family have helped with shopping so the risk is reduced."

Tom described the making of episode two as a 'long process'. Episode one came out in 2018.

"We had hoped to generate funding to create further episodes, but found door after door closed because raising awareness for ME was not seen as a priority by funding organisations," Tom said.

"I decided I was sick of rejections. I had a feeling we would never achieve funding, so I invested in some second hand equipment and decided to make it on a budget of zero.

"The cast and the crew learnt their talents for free, with everyone believing awareness of ME was as big a priority as I did.

"From there it took around 15-hours to film and three months to edit, score and finalise."

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