MS walk raises close to $29K

Sudbury's Multiple Sclerosis Walk raised nearly $29,000 by Sunday afternoon to help support persons living with the disease and fund life-saving research.

More than 200 people walked along Bancroft Drive Sunday for the annual Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada event.

Many wore colourful T-shirts to show their support for loved ones with the disease.

“They literally surround their loved ones,” said Laurel Ireland, a volunteer with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada's Sudbury chapter.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system which is composed of the brain and spinal cord. The disease attacks the myelin, which is a protective covering wrapped around the nerves of the central nervous system.

Sudbury has the third highest number of people per capita living with the disease in Canada.

Ireland said the local MS society has 350 members, but the organization estimates as many as 3,000 people in Greater Sudbury have the disease.

Because the disease affects the central nervous system symptoms can be very different from one person to another.

Wayne Mogensen was diagnosed with MS in 1995.

His wife Muriel said she first noticed symptoms when he started limping on his right side in 1990. It took five more years for neurologists to diagnose the disease.
“It was a shock,” Muriel said.

Wayne's symptoms got progressively worse, and now he is confined to a wheelchair.
Because he has primary progressive MS medications first developed in the 1990s cannot help improve his condition.

The Mogensens have been active members of the local MS Society chapter since his diagnosis.

They meet with members once a month and have formed strong bonds through the organization.

“It's nice to get together with the people here,” Wayne said.

Because he is 71, Muriel said Wayne will probably not get to benefit from cutting edge stem cell research that could help those with the disease, but she is confident younger people will see those benefits.