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I'm 28 and have had Multiple Sclerosis since I was 21. It began with numbness, dizziness, tingling and fatigue. I became very anxious and had panic attacks. I soon realised I had ms. I just KNEW but NOBODY BELIEVED ME and just thought I was being neurotic. I was so frightened! I thought I would soon be confined to a wheelchair and that my life would be over. I did not want to KNOW and just wanted to RUN AWAY. I couldn't understand WHY ME? I felt the URGENT need to achieve everything I wanted from life NOW, which of course you can't do! At 23, just after graduating from Sussex University in Chemistry with European Studies (German), I was at long last diagnosed with ms. It was a big RELIEF in a way to know that I wasn't just going mad, but I still felt devastated. I went to work for a homeless project in Redditch near Birmingham as a Community Service Volunteer. My friend Ian and his little boy Henry really helped me through and gave me the confidence to believe I could really do this. I had a wonderful time at Redditch but the ms was always there, progressing, and whispering to me, 'YOU ARE LIVING ON BORROWED TIME YOU KNOW!' Whenever the ms progressed I was given 'quick-fix' steroids to put me back onto my feet. I responded well, however they didn't fix the problem just bought me a little more time. I FELT I HAD NO CHOICE AS I KNEW OF NO ALTERNATIVE. |
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By 24 my mobility began to deteriorate visibly. I could no longer RUN AWAY or HIDE the ms, so I decided to tell the world by jumping out of an aeroplane at 13 000 ft! I wanted to give people something to REALLY talk about and skydiving when you have difficulty just walking certainly was! I made front page news and raised £2 000 for ms charities in the process. Everyone said I was really BRAVE but to me brave was getting up in the morning and facing the world with ms! Everyone thought it was a really DARING thing to do but I knew just trying to cross the road with my balance was much more DARING! |
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Through my tandem skydive for ms I met some wonderful new friends who have played a crucial role in helping me to HELP MYSELF to this day! At 25, finding myself wheelchair bound, and in FREE-FALL decline, I KNEW I had to start searching for an alternative to the steroids which were no longer FIXING. I felt like I had NOTHING to lose and only my LIFE TO GAIN. That was when I got on the Internet and started keying in with others msers out there and learning about ways which might help me manage the ms. I consulted a good Nutritionist (Brian Hampton of The Caring Clinic in Sheffield) and together we set-out a diet and vitamin program, to give me the best possible chance in stabilising my condition. I had my last lot of steroids in order to loosen up the severe spasticity in my legs. THAT was the turning point for me! |
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Since this time nearly two years ago there have been ups and downs with the ms and whenever I get a cold or an infection I think oh my God here we go, here comes the devastating decline. But then comes the surprise every time, when the bad period passes and I BOUNCE BACK STRONGER and RECOVERED NATURALLY! |
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In the Summer of 1999, I was carried around Mount Snowdon in North Wales by a team of twelve policemen, to raise more money for the Sheffield MS Therapy Centre. Centres from all over the country fielded teams for this event, "The Snowdon Challenge". It involved being carried six miles cross-country, up steep muddy banks, through woods, and across rivers. It was completely MAD but GREAT FUN and I raised over £600! |
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Later that Summer I made my first trip into the BIG WORLD with the wheelchair! I went to Norway to for a week with my brother Matthew to visit my best-friend. It was a REAL CHALLENGE, but so worth it to see Ann-Cathrin and TO BE LIVING MY LIFE AGAIN! MS has even brought a wonderful man into my life (when I wasn't looking! That was the last thing on my mind!) I met Steve Wright (my Mr Right!) when he sold me my mobility scooter. Had I not done the skydive we would never have met because we met through my great friend and former ABC pop-star, Stephen Singleton! Stephen and his family got in touch with me to sponsor me for the Skydive, and Stephen has faithfully taken me swimming every week ever since. When I told him I needed a mobility scooter, he sent his Uncle Steve around. I bought the scooter and ended up getting the SCOOTER MAN too! So I sure am glad I was MAD enough to jump out of that plane!!! Just shows you never know what might happen IF YOU REACH FOR THE SKIES! In January this year, I even escaped horrible cold English Winter when Steve took me to the Florida Keys, where he has a house (available for rental: See Steve's House and Venture Out Email: steve.tbird@blueyonder.co.uk) on Cudjoe Key for a fantastic few weeks! This was a big GAMBLE for me but the gamble paid off! When the ms was bad WE COPED and with the megga healthy diet, vitamins, regular swimming and fabulous sunshine, I just bounced back STRONGER! We swam with the DOLPHINS, and walked within feet of alligators at the Everglades! Yes even me with my balance! IN THE END MY BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS COMING HOME! |
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Steve with both his Birds, myself and his Classic American 1959 Thunderbird. Available for weddings/outings: Email: steve.tbird@blueyonder.co.uk |
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I AM now no WORSE than when I started the Vitamin and Diet program, and OVERALL I am gaining Strength, Movement and some Mobility (very slowly but surely!) I have good circulation and muscle tone in my legs, can still walk with a walker and since Florida can often walk (well stagger!) short distances with just a stick. Considering doctors told me that the ms I have is progressive and aggressive in nature this really is a MIRACLE BELIEVE ME! |
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to read my Autobiography of MS -Part 2 (Update). |
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