Video

VOTE FOR RAY OF HOPE

My video RAY OF HOPE has been short-listed to the World Parkinson Congress VIDEO competition 2023,  so I need 4 minutes of your time. I entered the video under the name of the protagonist. RAY FEENEY, not Christine Jeyachandran.

To win the popular vote, Ray and I need your vote. 

You can only vote once and for this reason they take your name and email but they don’t put you on a mailing list. It is to discourage dishonesty. Please vote only once and kindly recruit your family and friends to vote too.

Step 1.  Go to this page to watch the top 12, or Just Ray of Hope https://wpc2023.org/page/Top12-WPC2023

Step 2. You can skip the videos and just vote

https://web.cvent.com/survey/c8190b9c-c629-439a-afff-e516c2ba3cab/welcome

The button START appears – Press it then vote for RAY OF HOPE – RAY FEENEY

(As per the images)

 

Thank-you for your vote and support. You can also note my other video got an honorary mention. It is called: INVIGORATE

 

 

Opportunities and Biostatistics

In June I entered a program called New Wave at the University of New South Wales focused on entrepreneurship (for graduates and students). I learnt much and also had the opportunity to pitch the Alianza for funding. It was great opportunity to practice public speaking and although the video has not been made public, is the link, exclusively for my blog followers. I’d like to do a TED talk one day so I still have much to learn but practice is crucial step towards improvement.

4+ minute speech plus question time – (it goes on to other speeches)

I’m getting more opportunities to speak at different events and have 6 workshops/small talks booked over the next 3 months. I have been invited to give a workshop in the PDM Alliance conference in October in DC (USA) and I will also make a quick trip to Peru  at the same time.

But for now I have about 3 weeks left in biostatistics and a big assignment to conquer before I can say I finished my masters subjects and can focus on my research and preparing for my talks and trip. 

Your film has 44 wonderful comments

My Film” Would you sell your house to save your mother” was recently in a video competition called “focus on ability”. Unfortunately the website could only hold 10 comments at a time so I couldn’t see all the comments and I asked Ryan from Focus on Ability if there was a way I could see them all. He wrote “Your film has 44 wonderful comments”. I was shocked, that it had so many and most were from people I didn’t even know.

Thank-you everyone for voting and for sharing and for the amazing comments on the video. I do not believe it won the popular vote but you never know and on the 27th October about 7pm Australian time it will be announced in a ceremony on facebook of “Focus on Ability”. It is up for a judges award as an International Documentary.

Win or loose it has been a valuable experience for me in editing the video and managing the whole process of the competition. The video has been seen by over a 1000 people more than saw it previously and many have been challenged, realised how blessed they are and learnt something about Parkinson’s they didn’t know. I have also connected with many people who helped me share it yet again. 

It also encouraged me to start another video project but this time with a young professional. I don’t want to give too much away but I think it is going to to be a powerful short documentary and our aim is to get it into a mainstream film festival. 

Of course I’m now learning you need funding to promote your film and bring it to the attention of the public but since we’ve stepped out in faith and filmed the project we’re going to keep going and have faith that the funding to promote it will come in once we have the final product, it should sell itself. 

I don’t want to give too much away just yet but watch this space. 

Thanks again for your support and interest. 

Christine J.

44 Comments from around the World

Beautiful and heart touching video. Creates a lot of awareness on the disease.. God bless the family.Marsden Park Australia
What an inspiring and educational short film CongratulationsSanta Monica United States
Very touchingSutherland Australia
super videowesley hills United States
Amor sensibilidad empatia y compromiso necesarios para afrontar esta condicion y hacer de esta vida un mejor mundoPereira Colombia
Tried to write something but have no words to describe mother .Liverpool Australia
This portrays humanity and love that is genuine.Bamenda Cameroon
Excellent work by Christine in raising awareness about this disease and the challenges the patient and their families face.Westleigh Australia
Christina honoured her mother by following and keeping one of the ten commandments.Kolkata India
Inspiring and Impactful Love is a verb.Sydney Australia
Well done ChristineCaterham United Kingdom
Excellent work of her daughter. She shows compassion and love for her mother. Credit goes to the mother herself while rearing her. She has learnt from her mother herself. It's a rare exampleDelhi India
Es una gran realidad no hay cura para el Parkinson yo tambin lo sufro pero el amor todo lo puede est gran familia merece ganar con ste vdeo.Voten e inviten a ms personas que lo vean y voten por el. El parkinson no nos definesin embargo es una enfermedad muy difcil de sobrellevar tanto el paciente como la familia se van consumiendo con la enfermedad.Escobedo Mexico
Excellent story and awareness of this decease. Amazing family and the way they took care of their mother
Berwick Australia
JuampyJuampys
Christina did a wonderful thing I wish she become a roll model for many. Many do not care for their aged parents even though they have plenty of wealth. May the Lord bless ChristinaPathanamthitta Kerala India
Very touching. Indeed true love can do anything.Thane-Mumbai India
Muy conmovedora historia y lo ms importante lucharon por su madre la f mueve montaas un ejemplo a seguir bendicionesTALARA Peru
Excellent very touchingChennai India
Truth well told…Bengaluru India
Thank you for helping raise awareness for this unrelenting disease. We all need to speak up to raise awareness so we can end PD nowCalifornia United States
PIURAPiura Peru
A heartwarming story will told. May the angels of God protect us all from evil.Oatley Australia
Inspirational story about a family willing to sacrifice their home to help their mother with Parkinson's.Penshurst Australia
Piura
Piura
An extremely moving film. What a wonderful sacrifice this family has made for their mother.Caterham United Kingdom
It is an amazing story well doneCarlingford Australia
Amazing story Thank you for sharing and creating the video to raise awareness on debilitating Parkinsons disease and its impact on function family and finance. Thank you Pray that there will be a breakthrough in finding cure for this disease.Homebush Australia
Very natural without exaggeration down to earth informative filmBangalore KarnatakaIndia Australia
Very moving Hope we find a cure for Parkinson soon. Instead of spending trillions of dollars on war machinery we should work on finding cure for Parkinson AIDS Cancer etc.
Warminster United States
Rosita is not like many people of this world but allowing God to change the way she thinks. She knows how to do everything that is good and pleasing to God.Romans 122 CEV. In serving her mother's needs she realizes the value of mothers. Parkinson's is debilitating and without medical intervention life is severely restricted and causes an intense emotional with a mental impact that isolates the person. Thanks for highlighting the need in some little published countries.
Cromer Australia
A true story of love compassion and sacrifice an example to emulate of Honouring your father and mother a story that will inspire many to pray for and support those suffering from Parkinsons disease.Caterham United Kingdom
Very enlightening thank you.2207 Australia
Well done a brave step to save the mother and I support this because as scriptures says nothing is greater then LOVE… It is God's love that saved us from the bondage of sins and saitan…All Praise and Glory to God for giving some comfort for this sister…
Little Andaman India

The world needs to see this powerful story. Wish this film will get recognized and that many more will benefit from this very open and honest effort.
Bangalore India
A close knit family's to put the Mother above all their personal need which is selling their prized possession 'The House' is very touching and moving. Very appealing film.
Bangalore India
Truly touched.
Sydney Australia
Thankyou everyone for your votes. I know I have to a wonderful community supporting me. My friends like Ana Mara Sabela Lizzie Esme Larry. David and my kids too have put in hours of help checking and rechecking. It takes a community to make a documentary. And thanks to the family for inspiring so many. I have a longer version of their story at Christine Jeya on YouTube. We hope this video shows the need for a cure and better treatment for all.Arequipa Peru
Inspirational.Concord Australia
Wonderful Christine So good
Caterham United Kingdom
A video which depicts reality of life.It was a very moving video about the effect of the disease. More so about the sacrifice of the family to give the life back to the mother who gave them life in the first place and made so many sacrifices to bring them up.The video is about celebration of life rather than gloomy helpless one It is about victory over one of the most debilitating diseases in life.Penshurst Australia
Well done. If the problem can be solved by money its not a problem its the costs. – Jewish proverb. I would do the same.
Old lyme United States
Ta Doris t vas a ganar
Piura Peru
Muy lindo y espero que esto llegue a muchas personas para que sepan su historia
Piura Peru

My video wins popular Competition at University of NSW

I entered a video competition at UNSW School of Population Health and I didn’t win it but they had a popularity competition on facebook and so I announced it on twitter and social media and it won the popular vote.

Thank-you for the votes for the video. Link to video.
https://youtu.be/Tlb3OQxM8bA

I am always trying to get Parkinson’s in the media, get people understanding and potentially inspired to help the community in some way.

20% of Aussies affected by Parkinson’s are under 50 at diagnosis, like me. Parkinson’s is advancing all over the world! It’s prevalence has doubled in the last 25 years and it will double again in the next 20 years unless we act (Dorsey et al, 2018).

I hope young researchers and undergraduates will consider Parkinson’s disease as a research topic. We need to end Parkinson’s Disease – an insidious and disabling global pandemic! 

Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to my blog those who are new. People ask me a lot of questions but these are the ones that come up over and over again so this is a quick blog answering 5 questions.

  1. Were you a gymnast as a kid? Is that why you can do a handstand? I never did gymnastics as a kid but I did do handstands in the playground.
  1. Did your coach come back? (you have to watch Handstand for Parkinson’s to understand this question) My coach did come back after leaving me and it was pretty quick, as soon as I finished editing the video. It was more like a break but it was devastating at the time.
  1. Why did you do gymnastics? I had been watching my twins do gymnastics since they were 4 so the gymnastics facility was a location I knew well and the coach was my girls coach which made it easier for me to ask him to train me as I knew he had an adult class. There are no Parkinson’s disease physiotherapists or exercise classes where I live, so I was pretty desperate to find something to help my body move better. I knew that I needed accountability and a tough coach to push me along.  I didn’t know it was going to work so well at all but retrospectively one sees that balance, coordination and strength are features of gymnastics so it make sense. I do mainly physical preparation rather than tricks and it took 9 months before I tried a handstand.
  1. You must train every day for long periods of time? I started off with 45 minutes, 3 times a week and then I raised it to an hour and eventually 3 times a week, 2 hours a day.  Often I’d do an extra low key session on Saturdays. It is a solid commitment I think it’s doable and worth it.
  1.  Does your coach know anything about Parkinson’s disease? Is he trained? My coach didn’t know much about Parkinson’s disease, so I explained the basics. But he did have a friend who had had the disease and who he told me stories about. I gave him some things to read and he might have investigated further. I’d done a PD warrior Course as a patient in Australia so that gave me some good principles but the coach really did what he usually does with gymnasts making adjustments for sore knees etc and lowered his expectations. He seemed to have a good eye for what needed work.

If you have other questions ask in the comments or on twitter: https://twitter.com/christinejeya

My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristineJeya

Not knowing what I was getting into in a good way!

I started the “Parkinson’s secrets to living successfully” video project kind of on a whim. I put it out there as an idea on twitter to see what responses I’d get. It wasn’t long before I got a few interested people responding and sending me their videos. The responses confirmed my hutch that exercise is beneficial and the message worth sharing with the Parkinson’s community.  

Secondly I felt the mix of people would really communicate and connect with more people. 

  • A variety of ages and ages of onset of PD from 30s to 60s
  • A variety of shapes and sizes 
  • A variety of sports and exercise styles and intensity
  • A variety of English speaking countries – USA, Canadian, Wales, Scotland, England, New Zealand and Australia. 
  • A variety of experiences, and
  • all united in the benefits of exercise in treating Parkinson’s disease!

The third realization was that this project was actually going to take a lot of work. I spent a lot of time editing the videos and asking people to send more information or more photos and move video footage. It has all been worth it and thankfully the whole team has been very obliging and positive through the whole process.

The fourth realisation was that we wanted to create a directory of PD organisations that people who had been inspired could contact. Each of the team provided me with details of the Parkinson’s associations and organisations that had helped them and in their context/experience.

And the fifth realisation was that each of the team was willing to share the video with their contacts and organisations related to Parkinson’s. It is thanks to them that the video I has had 1200 views in just over 3 weeks! Video 2 has had over 400 too.

As I watched their stories I got to know them, their hard work became household conversation at our dinner table, their trials and successes and interesting facts. When the kids came into the office they said “that is Tanya” or “that is …”. The funniest comment was my son – he said “Is that my grandma?”. He is nine so not the least bit confused but these folk kinda feel like friends and family. 

I loved the inspiring individuality each brought to the project and I wanted to include all their stories but I couldn’t… I can’t wait to meet them at the World Parkinson’s Congress in Barcelona in JUNE 2022!

My favourite details and quotes(from menory) about the team: 

John
Blogger, Runner and very involved with TEAM Fox.

“Find what you enjoy…I do it for the medals!”
Miriam 
What a long list of sports she plays that I couldn’t include! Impressive! She is a World Parkinson Congress Ambassador

“Exercise is a great antidepressant”.
Kitty  
Comedian, Mother to 4 kids including twins and certainly full of personality. 

“I hate exercising!”
Tanya 
She is a weight lifter, need I say more? She runs a podcast Parkinson’s Road and is now becoming a fitness instructor. I loved her honesty!

“I’d cry on my way to the gym”
Jon 
He has visited every Rock Steady boxing in the USA, he surfs, does hard obstacle races and he is an ambassador the World Parkinson’s Congress

”Some used walkers and they don’t need them after taking up boxing”
Emma
Ninja warrior, She does karate and so much more. This lady can do cartwheels and handstands better than me and without training! She has 3 kids and was nice and honest too.

“I need it (exercise) in my day – If I don’t I get grumpy”
Eirwen 
She is already an avid campaigner in the PD Community and shared our video widely. I loved her input and feedback!

“I can play with the grandkids in the floor”
Jonny
Doctor, artist, animator and finalist for WPC video competition. Check out his socer balls skills. Impressive! 

”Set yourself a goal, if you fail just keep trying”
Alison
Boxing cycling, you name it! Amazingly strong!

“It doesn’t matter what you do… just start doing something”
Robyn

Google analytics tell me that New Zealand is our highest video viewer, thanks to Robyn and Emma and Kitty, despite it’s small size.

“It fixed my frozen shoulders”
Euan
He sent me amazing footage of him doing amazing things – I wished I could have used it all!

“It is theraputic hitting things” (boxing bags not people I assume). 
A.C.
He is an outdoor kinda person, hiking, canoeing you name it. He is also a World Parkinson’s Congress (WPC) Ambassador and is our brave team leader of the ambassadors.

“See you in Barcelona!”

And finally me: Christine – My claim to fame in the Parkinson’s world is my video “Handstand for Parkinson’s, also a finalist at the WPC 2019 and I too am a WPC Ambassador. My focus is encouraging everyone to come to the Parkinson’s World Congress 2022. I am so pumped to meet my team and you can meet them too (of course I am assuming they are all coming!)
 I’ll quote AC says“See in Barcelona!”  

So here is to the team and a sequel video in Barcelona at the World Parkinson’s Congress 2022.