In 1981 my sister, Ailsa Irving, who has died aged 82, placed a notice in the personal columns of the Guardian proposing the creation of a self-help group for people with endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. The response to the idea was so positive that Ailsa went ahead and set up the UK Endometriosis Society that same year, and it eventually became the national charity Endometriosis UK.
Ailsa herself had the long-term condition which, among other things, can lead to debilitating pain. Prior to the setting up of the society, sufferers had generally found little support for, or understanding of, endometriosis in the medical profession. In part due to Ailsa’s efforts, that situation has changed dramatically.
