What happens when a young woman who grew up surrounded by horses and the outdoors develops a mysterious red ring after spending a summer working at a horse camp in West Virginia—but no one recognizes the possibility of Lyme disease? In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we sit down with Hannah Green, a Lyme disease survivor, advocate, and author from England whose international Lyme journey stretches across the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. Hannah is the author of My Lyme Success Story, a book documenting her personal experience with chronic Lyme disease, the research she conducted while searching for answers, the approaches she believes helped her recover, and the lessons she learned about listening to her body along the way. Tick Boot Camp first met Hannah after she traveled from England to Connecticut for the Lyme Warrior 10th Anniversary Gala, where patients, researchers, clinicians, authors, advocates, and Lyme community leaders gathered for an evening centered on science, advocacy, connection, and hope. Hannah's story is ultimately about much more than one treatment or protocol. It is about missed warning signs, years without answers, becoming her own researcher, learning to trust herself again, and refusing to give up on the possibility of getting better. Growing Up Around Horses—but Knowing Almost Nothing About Ticks Hannah grew up in southeast England and spent much of her childhood outdoors. Horses became one of her greatest passions, and she eventually trained professionally in riding, horse management, dressage, and eventing. She was also deeply interested in animal health. Hannah spent time working around veterinary medicine and learned about fleas, lice, worms, botflies, equine influenza, strangles, and other conditions affecting horses. Yet one subject was almost completely absent from her education: ticks and Lyme disease. Despite spending years around horses, dogs, cats, veterinary environments, fields, and the English countryside, Hannah remembers receiving virtually no meaningful education about ticks or the infections they can transmit. The West Virginia Horse Camp and Hannah's Possible Lyme Exposure At approximately 19 years old, Hannah traveled alone from England to the United States to work as a riding counselor at a horse camp in West Virginia near the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a major adventure for someone who describes herself at that age as extremely shy. Hannah suddenly found herself responsible for a cabin of young campers while teaching multiple horseback riding lessons each day. She loved the experience. But the camp also introduced Hannah to something she had never encountered before: ticks. Hannah remembers discovering engorged ticks attached to horses grazing in long grass. After asking what they were, she and other staff members were shown how to remove them. Removing ticks from the horses soon became part of their regular routine. What Hannah does not remember receiving was comprehensive education connecting those ticks with the potential risk of Lyme disease in humans. She recalls being warned about hazards such as poison ivy and rattlesnakes, but she does not remember meaningful tick-bite prevention training for counselors or campers. There was a Lyme disease pamphlet in the staff area, but the information Hannah remembers most strongly involved severe neurological complications such as seizures and paralysis. She did not come away understanding the broad range of symptoms that could develop or recognizing how important an expanding rash could be. The Red Ring That Was Dismissed as a Spider Bite Years later, while reconstructing her medical history after finally learning about Lyme disease, Hannah remembered something important from that summer. She had developed a distinctive red ring on her lower leg. At the time, Hannah says someone told her that it was probably a spider bite and that she should simply keep the area clean and watch it. The rash did not significantly hurt or itch, and it eventually disappeared. No one, according to Hannah's recollection, asked whether she might have been bitten by a tick. She did not connect the rash with the ticks she had been routinely removing from horses, and she did not connect it with the Lyme disease pamphlet she had briefly seen. Hannah believes today that this may have been the event that began her Lyme disease journey. For practical prevention and early-action information, read the Tick Boot Camp Tick Bite Blueprint. The First Sign Something Was Wrong Hannah initially remained extremely healthy and active after leaving the United States. She returned to England and attended Aston Business School near Birmingham. But approximately six months after her time at camp, she began noticing unusual problems with her knees. She was a runner and initially assumed she had simply overtrained. Her knees would ache and sometimes lock, particularly when walking down gentle slopes or moving at certain angles. Cold weather could make the discomfort worse. Because Hannah had been a competitive runner and lifelong equestrian athlete, healthcare professionals often attributed the symptoms to physical activity and wear and tear. She was told variations of the same explanation: runner's knee, overuse, muscle imbalance, or consequences of years of athletic activity. Yet Hannah was still a young woman, and the symptoms continued. Over time, joint problems began appearing elsewhere. Her elbows became involved. Her lower back became increasingly problematic. A diagnosis of scoliosis provided another seemingly logical explanation for some of her pain. Hannah kept adapting and pushing forward. She even completed the London Marathon, although afterward her knees became so painful and locked that she struggled to walk normally for approximately a week. When Her Health Finally Collapsed After university, Hannah continued traveling internationally, including spending time in Borneo and eventually completing a round-the-world trip. Then, around 2006, everything changed. After developing what appeared to be a significant viral illness, Hannah says she never fully recovered. Her shoulder became extremely painful and effectively froze. What followed was no longer an isolated problem with her knees or back. Hannah describes developing a growing collection of debilitating symptoms that included: Severe fatigue and exhaustion Joint and musculoskeletal pain Digestive problems Insomnia Anxiety Depression Episodes of intense anger or rage Memory problems Progressively worsening neurological and systemic symptoms Difficulty maintaining normal work and daily activities She describes the illness as feeling like a combination of flu, glandular fever, and malaria. Instead of resolving, her symptoms continued getting worse for approximately six years. Trying to Keep Working While Becoming Increasingly Ill Hannah attempted to continue working despite her deteriorating health. She worked with horses and also painted portraits professionally, but even limited morning work became increasingly difficult because of overwhelming fatigue. She frequently needed time off and struggled to explain what was happening because she did not understand it herself. Later, while working in a tea shop, Hannah began noticing that her memory was also being affected. She describes 30 or 40 symptoms gradually accumulating, with insomnia, chronic fatigue, and mood changes becoming some of the most difficult to manage. Meanwhile, repeated medical testing failed to provide an explanation. Several doctors told Hannah that her results were normal and that they could not find anything wrong. She says she did not necessarily feel directly accused of imagining her illness, but over time it became easier to stop discussing what she was experiencing because she felt that people were not truly hearing her. Moving to Australia While Searching for Answers Hannah eventually moved to Australia, hoping that a different environment and lifestyle might improve her health. She would spend approximately a decade there. Initially, the excitement of the move helped her keep going. She settled in tropical Darwin and started a graphic design company. Then her health crashed again. During the first wet season, Hannah became severely ill and spent significant periods in bed. Eventually, even working a few hours per day from home became too difficult, and she had to close the company she had built. She developed severe food reactions and describes being bedridden for seven to ten days at a time. Her relationship also ended during this period. Hannah describes eventually losing her business, her apartment, her ability to ride horses, much of her independence, and a significant amount of weight. At her lowest point, she says she would sometimes visit the stables and simply hold herself against a rail while watching the horses because she no longer had the strength to ride or even interact with them normally. The Chance Conversation That Changed Everything One day at the stables, another person noticed how ill Hannah had become. Hannah explained what was happening, and the woman told her about another horse rider with similar symptoms who was seeing a doctor who periodically traveled from Perth to Darwin to work with patients experiencing chronic fatigue and unexplained illness. Hannah and the other woman both scheduled appointments. After reviewing Hannah's extensive symptoms, the physician told her he believed she had late-stage Lyme disease. Hannah says subsequent testing through Australian Biologics was positive for Borrelia. The diagnosis triggered a flood of memories—the ticks on the horses, the pamphlet in West Virginia, and the unexplained red ring on her leg years earlier. For the first time, Hannah felt that the scattered pieces of her story might belong to the same puzzle. Lyme Disease, Co-Infections, and Alternativ
