Posts tagged “2013”

MS and me

Leni

Posted on May 16th, 2013

One woman’s experience of how her relationship with her husband changed after a diagnosis of MS A lovely young woman with MS who wishes to remain anonymous wrote this amazing post for the World MS Day blog. We applaud her bravery in telling us her story and wish her all the best! Written by a very special anonymous contributor This blog is entering slightly scary new territory for me… In the past, I’ve been afraid to write about my experience of being diagnosed with MS and the subsequent breakdown of my marriage. I do know that my situation was very extreme, and in hindsight it’s clear how my diagnosis was the catalyst for my relationship to spiral into a nightmare of physical, emotional and…

Categories: World MS Day 2013

Tagged: 2013, MS, my motto, Relationships, what's your motto?, WMSD 2013, World MS Day 2013

Making strides for Multiple Sclerosis (MS4MS)

ayesha

Posted on May 15th, 2013

Cape town, South Africa gets moving in the run up to World MS Day

Contributed by Amy and Joy Stephens, South Africa

The Making Strides 4 Multiple Sclerosis (MS4MS) fun run was held on Saturday the 11th of May at the Rondebosch Common in Cape Town. The event entailed a 5km walk and a 10km fun run in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of South Africa. The main goals of the event were to raise money in aid of furthering research into MS as well as for the care of MS sufferers who cannot afford items such as wheelchairs, physical or emotional therapy. Overall we wanted to raise awareness and create a day of positivity for those with MS.

My sister Joy Stevens and I began to envision this event in September of 2012. With both of us having a passion for running we wanted to combine this with our passion for doing something for MS. The idea began to form as we were incredibly frustrated by the lack of awareness, knowledge and misunderstanding that existed around MS. This was an idea incredibly close to our heart as our mother was diagnosed with MS 12 years ago, in 2000. Despite this, we have never seen her give up. She maintains positive and determined to fight every single day to stay in control of her body and not let MS stop her from reaching her goals. She is an inspiration to the entire family and we wanted to do something to honour her and show her how much we love and appreciate her.

It was a 9 month journey which entailed applying for an event permit to host the event at the Rondebosch common and organising for everything that we needed to be either sponsored or donated. It was a huge learning curve as both of us have full time jobs and had never organised an event before. Despite this, we were overwhelmed by the responses that we got, everyone we spoke to was incredibly generous, positive and supportive and more than happy and willing to help.

We raised money through a number of ways. Our main source was from event entries and then through donations from the kindness of people’s hearts as well as generous corporates, our Runner Sponsorship plan, where we encouraged runners/walkers to find sponsors for each km they completed and finally through cake sales at offices.

Despite the cold weather we had a great turn out on the day of about 150 people, many of whom wore orange to show their support for MS. Registration started at 7:00am and we kicked off the race at about 8:10 am with everyone in high spirits. Our mother, Jean Stevens and father, Clive Stevens drove down especially for the event from Greyton and were there at the start line to encourage and cheer the runners on. The vibe on the day was incredible and everyone made a special effort to seek us out and share their stories. Everyone was excited and happy to be there.

Runners and Walkers were welcomed at the end of the race with plenty of refreshments, t-shirts, goodie bags and there were great spot prizes for a few lucky winners. Luckily, even the weather managed to hold right until the end of the race.

We managed to raise around R15 000 and succeeded in raising awareness for MS and creating a day of fun and positivity. Most importantly, we honoured our mother in the most amazing way and showed her how important and inspirational she is to us and those who meet her.

We are planning to make this an annual event, with next year’s MS4MS event promising to be even bigger and better. Participants were so supportive and were already excited for next year’s event and promising to bring more people to show their support for MS.

We are overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and the amazing support of our sponsors. However, none of this would be possible without the endless love and support we received from family and friends as well as the incredible volunteers who pledged their time on Race Day to make it the huge success it was.

We are excited and cannot wait till next year’s MS4MS Race and all the great things we can do for MS.

Amy and Joy Stephens

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Categories: World MS Day 2012

Tagged: 2013, MS, multiple sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, South Africa, WMSD, World MS Day

Run for MS in Cairo, Egypt

ayesha

Posted on May 13th, 2013

MS Care, Cairo, Egypt raising awareness during Cairo half marathon on Friday 10 May 2013

MS care hosted a stand at Cairo’s first ever marathon last week. The stand was attended by volunteers from the organisation and carried lots of information about MS and World MS Day. To find out more about MS Care visit their website.

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Categories: World MS Day 2013

Tagged: 2013, Cari half marathon, Caro, Egypt, MS, MS Care, MSIF, multiple sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, WMSD, World MS Day

Mottos for relationships

Leni

Posted on May 13th, 2013

Breea

Being diagnosed with MS at 18 had a big impact on Breea’s social life, but she managed to see things in a positive light and get on with her life.

“Many people think that because I do have mobility issues or that I may relapse that they may have to ‘babysit’ me. Many don’t take the time to understand my disease so they seem to want to avoid me to avoid having to talk about it. I was a cheerleader before MS. I am no longer a part of that cheer family in the way I used to be and people move on, feel like they have nothing in common with you anymore. I found out who my really close friends are and discovered which ones were fake or simply just not strong enough to stand by someone with such a life altering disease.”

Breea’s motto for relationships is:

What’s your motto?

Diogo

Some reactions to Diogo’s MS diagnosis have been less than positive, but he’s managed to rise above and see who his true friends are.

“It was a great learning process, but it was worthwhile. It makes you a stronger person, more clear-sighted if you stand up and fight. There is a time that you struggle with boring situations related to MS. But on the road there is a moment were maturity arises and you can handle the situations in a different way. There are good and bad people. I get to know both types and learn to deal with them.”

Diogo’s motto for relationships is:

What’s your motto?

Brenda

Brenda was diagnosed with MS at the age of 20. Her MS diagnosis came with new fears and insecurities, but Brenda didn’t let them hold her back.

“At first I locked myself away a lot , I didn’t want people to hug me or touch me or ask me anything about my life, but MS also strengthened my ties with the closest people in my life, and forced me to keep going, accepting others’ help and company, and slowly learning to live with what happened to me. So I came out of my shell slowly, first building a new relationship with my body and then with my surroundings.”

Brenda’s motto for relationships is:

What’s your motto?

Khaoula

Khaoula was 15 when she was diagnosed with MS. She was apprehensive about people’s reactions at first, but she soon came to terms with her MS.

“After being in denial for a while, I became strong enough to accept things and face people.”

Khaoula’s motto for relationships is:

What’s your motto?

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Categories: World MS Day 2013

Tagged: 2013, Argentina, Breea, Brenda, Diogo, Khaoula, Portugal, Tunisia, USA, what's your motto?, World MS Day, World MS Day 2013, Young People

Young people with MS get together in Uruguay

Leni

Posted on May 13th, 2013

MS Uruguay is organising a get-together to discuss what it’s like to be a young person with MS in Uruguay. Young MS’ers will be encouraged to talk about their experiences and make a collage with parts of the body and phrases relating to MS. The event will take place in Montevideo on World MS Day. Tweet This Post Share on Facebook

Categories: World MS Day 2013

Tagged: 2013, Uruguay, what's your motto?, WMSD 2013, World MS Day 2013, Young People