It is my wish to confirm to everyone that 
is who he claims, and to help him too.
Hello Steemit. I seldom talk about my ongoing illness.
Recently I finally relinquished my job that has been held for me for the entire year.
I had to let it go and in a way admit defeat.
My focus was so fixed on getting back to work, it defined me.
I loved my job.
I have been a nurse for 20 years. Helping other people, truly making meaningful connections with them at their most vulnerable, made my heart swell.
I felt privileged to share their struggles.
Thanks to the support of so many of you, I have found solace and kinship in steemit.
It is always nice to see your post jump in value, but I am being honest when I tell you that the best steemit moment for me was seeing the flood of support that swamped my husband 
https://steemit.com/life/@azurejasper/sharing-this-isn-t-easy-for-me-and-i-m-not-comfortable-about-it-but-this-community-has-become-so-important-to-girlbeforemirror
I saw a bit of light in his eyes as he left for work that day.
We are in Australia, so often we wake to the day that was, in the world of steemit.
I can't report to you that I am cured.
It seems the leaks from my brain have been patched, but the complications of EDS and a year of deconditioning have prevented recovery.
Many of my symptoms are unchanged and I am still seeking the right treating doctor who has an understanding of my condition from a connective tissue perspective.
But I have hope.
Hope that is largely due to the ongoing support from you. And the wonderful distractions of a steemit contest.
I have a limit to what I can do in a day, and it is usually accomplished by having long periods of rest.
I always type to you lying down and tapping away on my phone.
My life is an extreme contrast to the person I was just over a year ago.
My first post referenced my marathon running and it was soon followed by an epic 6000 word chronicle of my megamarathon. I am proud of the accomplishment, but I must warn you the post is a heavy read.
https://steemit.com/life/@girlbeforemirror/why-i-pledged-to-run-almost-300kms-for-a-man-i-had-never-met-who-had-accused-a-man-i-had-loved-all-my-life-of-the-most-heinous
This is a photo from that post.
I am second from the left (literally being held up by my teammates.)
I want to reference in particular, the shirt I am wearing and the purple medal.
The Gold Coast Marathon was the last marathon leg of the 300km run I did in 2016.
The shirt is the finisher shirt from that final event.
The purple medal is a medal issued to bravehearts777 Team upon completion also.
Unique items.
Over the past months like many of us, I have followed the remarkable story of .
I watched with a mixture of compassion, intrigue and also scepticism, as a man boldly chronicled what seemed to most lucky people who live in relative privilege, an unlikely or at least shocking story.
Then came 
and 
's post about their visit.
I weighed up the pros and cons and decided that believing him and possibly helping, outweighed the risk of possibly being deceived.
I made contact and offered advocacy.
Not money, not steem, but someone to network the available help.
He graciously accepted and praised me as though I was sent from god.
A very humbling experience for me.
So I have been spending my little moments here and there canvassing the globe.
We have not triumphed yet. But I am only just getting started.
But I want to once and for all clarify any suspicion as to the identity of
So this is what I am doing next.
I am posting him my Gold Coast finishers shirt and my bravehearts medal.
Perhaps he has clever accomplices that can reproduce those things. I here you thinking it. It's OK, you are not alone.
I am going to draw my distinct doodle scribble art on them, and take a photo of them prior to posting them.
When he receives them he can show you my scribble art treasures and I will confirm that they match the photographs I take prior to sending them.
I will send these images ahead of posting to trusted steem Papa 
I hope that is OK Papa?
The parcel will also be post marked from Australia.
I am not in the Philippines and am not an expat.
I have been to the Philippines.
It was 1994. I was a teenager. I spent some time in Manila with my dad. I had a teenage attitude and didn't know how lucky I was to travel with him on a business trip.
But I was profoundly effected by the place and the people.
I was heading into my last year of high school completely unprepared and consumed by my tiny world, and the opportunities I had taken for granted and squandered.
I was also a sad scared little girl on a path of self destruction.
Seeing the people in Manilla and the vast number of people living in very difficult situations was a wake up to a spoilt Aussie teenager.
I felt tiny.
In a comforting way. My problems were insignificant.
Encountering , again The Filipino people have rescued me from my insular existence.
Putting my own issues aside has helped me in ways I had not imagined. I am less occupied with my pain and limited life.
It is my hope that once he receives a parcel from a long time steemit user, from outside of his country, that the speculation about his situation will be resolved.
Then we can really start working together to make a difference for Arnold Martin.
Steemit Philippines discord welcome you to get in touch with them. Please visit charity-volunteers chat.
Or you can contact me in steemchat
Discord @GirlBefore7455
This could be the greatest collaborative steem project to date.
But it will take a community. I believe we are up for the challenge.
