Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving Page. This is a ‘brief’ description (essay) of my last 12 months. 

For anyone that doesn’t really know me I was very big into fitness- triathlons, running, swimming and often training two / three times daily. I’ve completed plenty of triathlons including a 1/2 Ironman in 2015. Just over 12 months ago I woke up and told my wife Áine that my feet feel ‘weird’. ‘My feet feel weird’ are four fairly innocuous words. No lead in, no sign of any ailments, in fact I had raced well all summer. ‘My feet feel weird’ - It turned out that those 4 words were the start of a life changing few months. 2 weeks later I was in the Beacon Hospital completely numb from the waist down and struggling to walk. Scans showed a ‘lesion’ on my spinal chord, my immune system had gone rogue and attacked itself. Pumped with steroids for a week, sent home and told that there was a 30% chance I’d recover feeling and walk normally again. 

I did recover feeling and thankfully I can walk normally again, but in February 2019, after a turbulent few months with new and lingering symptoms , I was diagnosed by Prof Niall Tubridy (the brother of himself as he’s known) in St. Vincent’s as having ‘active relapsing remitting MS’. 3 new lesions had appeared on my spinal chord in the intervening period. Of course my head went straight to the wheelchair, crutches, walking aid and disability permit. But I felt good physically at the time which made the diagnosis a little easier to digest.

So it’s a daily pill since then, ongoing battles with chronic tiredness and symptoms that can only be described as ‘weird’. I buzz, I vibrate, when I’m tired or stressed it feels like someone is wrapping cling film tighter and tighter around my torso. I have this thing called l’hermittes phenomenon (Google it, it’s weird AF) and it drives me insane.

Aside from that it’s all good. I’m back on the bike, I’m back running again and have now set myself a goal to do this race as a big F*CK YOU to MS and I’m not done yet. I’ve done this race before but it was all about ‘competing’, this year it will all be about ‘completing’. It involves a run, cycle, trip up and down Croagh Patrick, a hilly cycle and ending in a run back to Westport from the Quay.

I genuinely don’t think I would be in the position to exercise let alone race again without Áine and Buddy (our rescue dog) giving me a reason to stop feeling sorry for myself and get out and walk again. Without them I don’t think I would have regained feeling in my legs after the initial dose given the low odds of recovery. Not sure what’s in store for me but why worry about that when all is good now? So my ask is that you please donate to this worthy cause and have a nosey at the MS Society page for info on some of the great work they do.