Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I'm going to take on the South Downs Way 100 mile challenge, a gruelling off road bike ride with over 14000ft of ascent. I'm doing it in aid of the MS Trust, a charity which provides advice & support to people who have MS. The charity campaigns for more specialist nurses in MS to provide better care & treatments for patients.
I have assisted many people with MS in my career & also worked alongside them, fundamentally it's a debilitating progressive disease for most people which needs more funding to sustain the fantastic research that is taking place.
Here's a little more about MS.
Multiple sclerosis, often abbreviated to MS, is a neurological condition that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system). 'Sclerosis' means scarring or hardening of tiny patches of tissue. 'Multiple' is added because this happens at more than one place in the brain and/or spinal cord.
MS is a lifelong condition and is the most common condition of the central nervous system affecting young adults. Over 100,000 people in the UK have MS which is about one in every 600.
Some of the most common symptoms around the time of diagnosis are fatigue (a kind of exhaustion which is out of all proportion to the task undertaken), stumbling more than before, unusual feelings in the skin (such as pins and needles or numbness), slowed thinking or problems with eyesight.
Although it's not a life threatening condition it is an incurable disease. Medication can slow down the disease and reduce the severity of symptoms in some patients.