It’s been a little time since I last posted an entry on my
blog and this one won’t be a long one. I really just wanted to share something
with anyone who happens to stumble across the blog.
Those of you that know me will be aware that a disproportionately
large chunk of my life is devoted to Partick Thistle Football Club.
Programme, website and social media editor is my job title
that sounds grander than it actually is. That role, as the title suggests,
means that I spend a fair amount time on Twitter; that social media outlet where
people share the minutiae of their lives in 140 characters or less.
It’s easy to be disparaging about twitter but Saturday
demonstrated to me the power that it has and how, even with the most tenuous of
links, it can connect and bring people together.
Those familiar with Twitter will be aware of the concept of
hashtags. With Thistle having installed Alan Archibald, or Archie as he is
affectionately known, as interim manager we have been using the hashtag #ArchiesArmy
on the Club’s twitter feed.
On Saturday morning as I was checking twitter, as I
routinely do on a Saturday morning, I came across the following tweet that used
our Archie hashtag:
@Archietime1 Hey Archie, did you
know there’s an #ArchieArmy hashtag? It’s for Partick Thistle (their manager’s
nickname is Archie!)
I naturally had to investigate further and it revealed that
the Archie in question was an 11 year old boy from Cheltenham who suffers from
a rare condition called Propionic Aciduria.
Unfamiliar with that condition? Well so was I.
An internet search revealed that the condition prevents
individuals from being able to break down parts of protein and some types of
fat due to either a missing or a non-functioning enzyme called PCC. This
inability causes a build-up of harmful substances which can cause damage to the
person’s heart, liver, brain, and bones. The result can be seizures,
delays to normal development like walking and talking, and other health
problems break down parts of protein and some types of fat due to either a
missing or a non-functioning enzyme called PCC. This inability causes a
build-up of harmful substances which can cause damage to the person’s heart,
liver, brain, and bones. The result can be seizures, delays to normal
development like walking and talking, and other health problems.
There is no hard fast life expectancy for someone with this
condition and while it is possible to survive into adulthood my, admittedly limited,
research seems to suggest that on average life expectancy is somewhere between
12 and 14 years.
To return to my story a few tweets were exchanged with
Archie, in reality the young boy’s mother.
It turned out that Partick Thistle were the first Club to Follow
Archie on twitter and we were promised a cheer on Saturday from doing so.
A few other Thistle fans picked up on this and Archie now
has a fair number of Thistle fans following him. One was even prompted to send
him a birthday present; Archie celebrating his 12th birthday today.
I’m proud of the fact that through nothing more than a
shared name Partick Thistle are now known in a Cheltenham household. More
importantly, through a simple twitter exchange I now know about a rare
condition that I previously didn’t know existed.
Twitter isn’t just about sharing what we all had for
breakfast. It can connect and touch people in so many different ways.
You can follow Archie via the link below:
And you can read more about Propionic Aciduria here:
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