My name is Claire Anne Fraser, I'm 36 years old and mummy to my son Rory who's 12. I always noticed my mum, Gran and auntie walked a bit different and could see their feet were different and I never really knew why until at about the age of 10/11 I started to show the same symptoms and started experiencing a lot of pain in my legs and fatigue and trips and falls and unsteady balance. After a few trips to Aberdeen Children's hospital, numerous tests including nerve conduction tests, at about the age of 12, I was finally diagnosed with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease type 5 which as it turns out runs through many members of my maternal grandmothers side of the family.This disease affects the peripheral nerves in the hands, arms, feet and legs, causes a drop gait, poor balance, pain, tingling, numbness, extreme fatigue and poor circulation. Being a teenager and being 'different' and always trying to be as 'normal' as possible was difficult and suffered taunting and bullying and it's taken me a long time to accept my condition and still learning to cope daily. As I live in the highlands there is very little help or support for this condition or even knowledge for that matter so have been left to get on with it really since signed off from paediatrics at age of 16. I have had various physio over the years but basically learn to live and cope myself. My son now has been diagnosed and although it breaks my heart, I want him to experience as much as he can and stay as fit as he possibly can before it progresses. I have joined as an ambassador for the research group and would love to raise as much as possible to allow further testing and research to be carried out to raise more awareness and to hopefully find some hope for future generations so please please give whatever you can. Thankyou